Iron Maiden
by Tr8rT00per
Summary: My 2nd ever story! Looking at 10 years of Marvel movies from the eyes of Tony Stark's daughter. Please review and let me know what you think. I own absolutely nothing except my idea for an OC. (Beware of spoilers!) Updating the story. Currently done through Avengers starting IM3. Hopefully will be done with the rest soon.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello out there! So this is my second ever story. I'll be honest, I'm a little bored so I won't be offended if you guys don't like the story, but I'm trying to use creative writing as a reward for myself in between my college classes and homework.** **Please let me know what you guys think, I'm always looking for helpful critiques for my writing to help me improve.**

 **Just a summary to fill you in on where we are, this story is going to start out in the first Iron Man movie and focus on an OC, Isabel Stark, who I kind of imagine would look like Naomi Scott, but y'all can put in whatever image you want. It's going to kind of examine the last 10 years of Marvel movies through her eyes, though there will be a few I'm not going to cover. I hope you guys like the story. Let me know if there are things you want to see.**

 **Note: This is a re-upload. I am updating all the chapters before I continue with Endgame, correcting continuity errors, grammar mistakes (hopefully not creating new ones), and adding new content. Hope you all enjoy!**

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After chasing off another of his one-night stands, Pepper Potts descended the stairs to the workshop in Tony Stark's Malibu mansion. Rhodey, who was currently on the phone with her after being unable to reach Tony, was furious over the eccentric billionaire being nearly 3 hours late for takeoff. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked at her boss as he worked on some engine piece for one of his classic cars.

"Give me the exploded view." Tony was saying.

"The compression in cylinder 3 appears to be low." JARVIS replied.

Tony nodded. "Note that."

What made Pepper smile, despite her annoyance, was seeing the little girl sitting on his knee helping him work. Isabel Stark was eight years old and like a mini Tony, she was smart and talented, brash as any Stark but with an uncanny perception of people that made her rather empathetic and impossible not to love.

As she keyed in her code for the workshop, she was surprised to hear the music that was normally going in the workshop at a reasonable volume today. "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper said as she walked in. "Your flight was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago."

It didn't escape her notice that Isabel curled a little closer to Tony at the mention of his trip to Afghanistan; she was having a hard time with this trip because it was the first one where she had to stay home with Pepper. It just wasn't safe enough this time, but Tony still insisted on going himself.

"Funny, I thought with it being my plane and all it would just wait for me to get there." Tony said as he set down his tools and swiveled the chair around, his arms encircling his kid tightly.

"I need to speak to you about couple of things before I get you out the door." Pepper said looking at papers that were sitting on the simple black portfolio in her arms.

"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?" Tony asked looking down at Izzy, who tilted her head back grinning, looking adorable with her tongue slightly poking through where she had lost a tooth recently.

"Larry called, he's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings, do you want it, yes or no?" Pepper asked continuing on like he hadn't spoken.

"Is it a good representation of his Spring Period?" Tony asked.

Pepper paused. "No, the 'Springs' is actually the neighborhood in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season." Tony raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. "I think it's a fair example...I think it's incredibly overpriced."

Tony thought about it. "I need it." He said lifting Isabel off his lap, so he could stand up. "Buy it, store it."

Pepper smiled fondly at him as she wrote it down. "Okay, the MIT commencement ceremony—"

"Is in June," Tony cut her off. "Please don't harangue me about this."

"Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm going to say yes." Pepper said as she followed him over to the coffee pot, Isabel remaining by the workbench. "I need you to sign this before you leave."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for?" Tony said. "You got plans?"

Pepper looked up at him with a bland expression. "As a matter of fact, I do." She said.

"I don't like it when you have plans." Tony said.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday." Pepper said.

Tony paused. "It's your birthday?" She nodded, he glanced over at Isabel who also nodded. "I knew that. Already?"

Pepper smiled tolerantly. "Yeah, isn't that funny? It's the same day as last year." She said.

Isabel laughed.

Tony smiled. "Well, get yourself something nice from me." She said.

"I did." Pepper said.

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"It was very nice, very tasteful." She said. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Ms. Potts." He said.

Isabel made a gagging face in the background. Tony sent her a look.

Pepper looked back and smiled warmly at Isabel, who smiled back. "My father is in town, and the three of us are going out to dinner and a movie." She said.

"We're gonna see Mamma Mia!" Isabel said beaming.

Tony smiled at his daughter's joy. "Well charge it all to me." He said turning back to Pepper. "Have a good birthday and thank you for watching her."

"I'm happy to." Pepper said.

He walked over to Isabel who was no longer smiling. He crouched down in front of her. "I have to go Izzy." He said. Her little pout tugged at his heartstrings. "Hey, I'll see you in two days."

Her little lower lip quivered as she continued to look at her shoes.

Tony lifted her chin. "Two sleeps." He said holding up two fingers. "Come on, you know the drill."

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Isabel said. "Why can't you just stay?"

"I'm the one presenting the Jericho." He said. "I have to be there." He sighed. "I have to go kid, come on, give me a hug."

Izzy wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "Please be safe." She said, voice muffled against his shoulder.

He hugged her tight and placed a kiss against her cheek. "When I get back, we'll go to New York, okay?" He said lightly as he released her. "It'll be a fun trip, and you can see Johnny and Sue."

Izzy nodded, still sad as Pepper moved to stand next to her, smoothing a hand over her dark curls.

Tony stood up. "I love you tons." He said.

"I love you 3000." Isabel said reaching up for one more hug.

…

Pepper was sitting on the sofa with her laptop open and the tv on low. She was dressed in pajama pants and a t-shirt and Isabel was curled up next to her, asleep in her pajamas as well. It was the second "sleep" and Tony was supposed to be home tomorrow. There hadn't been a lot of communications since he left, so Isabel was sad and missing him. She was being a little clingy with Pepper, who didn't mind at all.

Pepper looked down at the sweet raven-haired girl. When she first started with Stark Industries, Tony had only been the CEO of the company for a little over a year. She had learned a lot and had seen a lot of things working with Tony, but the biggest surprise of their time together was when Tony came back from a trip with this little newborn girl eight years ago. She was DNA tested against Tony and she was biologically his, but Tony never talked about Isabel's mother and never allowed anyone to dig into who her mother was either.

While everyone expected Tony to be a horrible father, he surprised the world when he made Isabel the center of his universe and seemed to be an overall excellent father. He told Pepper once while he was a little drunk that he would ensure that Isabel never felt neglected the way that he had as a child.

Pepper was broken out of her revere to Isabel suddenly waking up crying, calling for Tony. "Hey, Izzy, it's okay." She said taking the little girl in her arms. "You're having a nightmare, it's okay."

"Pepper, something bad happened." Izzy cried, clutching onto Pepper. "We need to help daddy."

Pepper couldn't see any other way to calm her down, so she tried to call Tony's cell, but there was no answer. She tried to call Rhodey, but there was no answer.

…

The next morning, Pepper paced back and forth in the living room making phone call after phone call. She hadn't heard from Tony or anyone, even Obadiah wasn't returning her calls right now. This wasn't like Tony especially when he knew how hard of a time Izzy was having with him being gone, he would normally have called her back within minutes, no matter the time or what he was doing.

Isabel was curled up on the sofa, still in pajamas, a tablet that she had designed with Tony in her hands and she was quietly working on the specks for the car engine that she had been working on with Tony before he left. She was exhausted, it had been a long night for her, and she was drained.

Pepper was about to dial Tony's number again when the front door opened. Both jumped in surprise, especially since JARVIS hadn't alerted them to a visitor, but Pepper saw Rhodey first before Isabel saw him. She immediately felt a pit grow in her stomach. Rhodey was here, but where was Tony?

"Uncle Rhodey?" Isabel said confused setting the tablet aside.

"Izzy." Rhodey said slowly, his face looking a little ashen as he noticed her. He was dressed in his military uniform, which he never wore to the house unless it was on official business.

Izzy looked past him, expecting to see Tony. She turned her brown eyes, eyes that looked so much like Tony's, onto Rhodey and she frowned. "Where's daddy?" She asked softly.

Pepper felt her chest constricting as she watched Rhodey kneel down in front of Izzy, taking her little hands in his as he told her that there was an attack while they were in Afghanistan and Tony was missing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all, here is another chapter to tide you guys over. Unless I get really lucky, I probably won't be able to upload another chapter until Sunday or Monday. So, some might say that Izzy is too articulate for an 8 year old in this one, but keep in mind that she is a Stark so she is advanced for her age. Things will start moving a little more into the Iron Man story from here.**

 **Two things, I know who Izzy's mother is, and it's someone that you guys already know as well. A cookie to whoever can guess who it is going to be. Also I mentioned in the last chapter "Johnny and Sue" I won't make you guess, it is Johnny and Sue Storm, I will be making them about the same age as Izzy and later on I will pull character references from the new Fantastic Four movie, just not the story (it was so bad, but Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara were so good!).**

 **Note: Re-upload**

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Izzy was sitting at the computers in the workshop, focused on satellite imagery over Afghanistan. She was going cross-eyed looking at the footage, but she stubbornly kept working. Things were much harder when you were a kid, JARVIS wouldn't even let her have extra soda to stay awake, directing DUM-E and U away when she called them, and forget about coffee. So, she was left to run on determination alone, which Starks were never short on.

"Miss." JARVIS said softly. "You have been awake for nearly 36 hours. Ms. Potts is concerned; she is on the phone with the pediatrician."

"What was the longest my dad had stayed awake for?" She asked as she scanned another area.

"It isn't a competition Miss." The AI replied.

Izzy looked up. "JARVIS, we both know that the military isn't going to find him. Which means that we have to keep working." She said.

Suddenly, the screens cut out and she was down to just the lights. "JARVIS, bring it back up." She demanded.

"Miss, my job in your father's absence is to ensure that you are cared for." JARVIS said. "And that means cutting you off from work when it is a danger to your health."

"But dad—"

"Is the one who instructed me to do so when it was apparent that you were very much like him." JARVIS replied simply. "I will continue to monitor what is happening in Afghanistan, and I will inform you if there is any change, but for now you must get some sleep."

Izzy pouted for a minute, but without staring at the screen, she felt the weight of exhaustion pulling at her. She didn't want to stay in the workshop though, so she walked up the stairs, saying a tired goodnight to Pepper as she passed her to the stairs. Instead of going to her room though, Izzy walked a little further down the hall and opened the door to her father's room.

Everything was in order, the bed was made, it seemed so peaceful and undisturbed. Izzy picked up one of Tony's old MIT hoodies, pulling it on. It was so big; it entirely engulfed her small frame. She just pulled the hood up and crawled onto the bed, curling up on the pillows and just breathing in the familiar scent of motor oil and his favorite cologne. That's how Pepper found her sleeping ten minutes later when she came upstairs to check on her.

…

Time passed weirdly for Izzy. It passed slowly through the eyes of a kid, but at the same time, it seemed like she would only work for 30 minutes before JARVIS would interrupt her, citing that it had been twelve hours, which was her new cut off time.

One of the fail-safes that Tony had set up was that if anything were to happen to him, Rhodey and Pepper would be her co-guardians with Pepper being the primary. Therefore, she always had someone around to watch over her as Pepper stayed permanently at the house and Rhodey stayed there in between his time in Afghanistan.

Izzy was sitting on the sofa with Pepper one night with some music playing quietly. She was tired of staring at screens, but Pepper still had work to do, so Izzy just sat quietly, half asleep, leaning against Pepper's side as Pepper worked on her laptop. It had been a month since Tony was kidnapped, and Pepper still had to manage all the things that she did before in relation to the company, but it was more for Izzy's benefit now because everything that Tony controlled would go to Izzy when she turned 18 if he was ever declared dead. Tony had set it up so that Pepper would be the one to manage it until that point and not even Obadiah could take over that control.

"Ms. Potts." JARVIS said softly so as not to disturb them too much. "Mr. Stane has just arrived at the gate and is requesting entrance."

Izzy looked up to glance at the time on Pepper's laptop. Pepper frowned. "Let him in." Pepper said as she closed her laptop and they sat up.

It took a minute for Obadiah to reach the house and he came in with a box of pizza. "Hello ladies." He said.

"You're here late Obadiah." Pepper said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Obadiah said. "Why does something have to be wrong for me to drop by?"

Izzy scooted forward to grab a slice of pizza. "Because it's 9:45pm, you brought pizza from New York, and you haven't been by once since daddy was taken." She said bluntly.

Obadiah seemed to be trying to control his expression at her words, a little shocked.

Pepper poked Izzy in the side indicating she needed to be nice. "We appreciate you coming. It's been a rough few weeks." She said trying to be diplomatic.

Izzy chewed quietly on her slice of pizza. "1 months, 5 days, and 13 hours." She said after she swallowed.

"But who's counting…" Obadiah said. "I'm sorry that I haven't been here. But things at Stark Industries needed to be handled delicately since your father…"

"Was taken." Izzy finished firmly. She refused to believe that he was dead.

Obadiah sighed. "Isabel," he said. "I know that this is hard for you, but the board and I have to start making some real decisions about what to do with the company."

"And you can't do anything without dad, and if he's dead that means you can't do anything without me." Izzy replied.

Obadiah didn't rush to reply.

"I think it's a bit late." Pepper said pulling Izzy back slightly on the sofa. "Perhaps we could talk more tomorrow?"

"Yes, I think that's a good idea." Obadiah said.

Izzy stood up. "It doesn't matter how late or early you want to talk." She replied standing up. "I'm not agreeing to declare dad dead."

"Where are you going?" Pepper asked as she walked around them.

Izzy turned around. "To bed." She replied lightly. "It is late after all. Good night Pepper. Good bye Mr. Stane."

Her choice of words was not unnoticed as she left. She could hear Pepper apologizing and making an excuse for her behavior, but Izzy was far from sorry.

Izzy walked in to her bedroom, which had an amazing view overlooking the ocean. "J, you up?" She asked as she closed the door.

"Always for you Miss." He replied.

"Tell me when Obadiah leaves." She instructed. "Also, I want to take a closer look at what Obadiah and the board have been doing."

"Shall I alert Ms. Potts?" JARVIS asked.

"Not yet." Izzy said carefully.

JARVIS brought a display up along the window wall of her room. "It appears that Mr. Stane has been taking a lot of trips lately." He said. "Nothing that would raise alarm. It appears that the minutes of the board meetings have not been uploaded recently."

Izzy scanned the information. "Obadiah what are you up to?" She murmured.

…

Izzy split her focus over the next two months between learning everything that she could about the company and searching for any sign that Tony was alive. She didn't tell Pepper that was what she was doing, but she put on a smile to try to prevent her from worrying.

 _~ The sound of the thunderstorm woke her from a dead sleep, making the little girl tremble under her blankets. A new clap of thunder and flash of lightning caused five-year-old Izzy to scream, curling under her blankets._

 _"Izzy, what's wrong?"_

 _Peeking out from under the blankets, she saw Tony walking over to sit on the bed beside her. He had obviously woken at her scream and had run to her room, but his eyes were alert, looking for any sign of harm._

 _"I'm scared." She said quietly._

 _Tony frowned for a second before the new clap of thunder sounded and his eyes lit with realization as she squeaked and pulled the blankets up again. "Princess, it's just a storm. You've heard them before." He said._

 _"But it's so loud." She protested._

 _Tony laughed and pulled the blankets down. "Come on." He said standing._

 _She stood up, reaching for him and he picked her up, hugging her close, her arms wrapping around his neck. He took her down to the workshop, JARVIS lighting up their path._

 _He looked at her as she looked up at him with wide brown eyes. "What do you want to work on?" He asked. ~_

Waking with a start from the dream, Izzy looked around. Lightning lit up her room dimly despite the darkened windows. She listened to the crack of thunder and just lay still for a minute, listening.

Giving it five minutes, unable to fall back asleep, Izzy snuck out of her room to go downstairs to the workshop, just getting the overwhelming feeling that she needed to check the satellite footage one more time.

"Miss, you are supposed to be in bed." JARVIS said lighting up the room, so she wouldn't trip on anything.

"I just have a hunch JARVIS." She said. "If it doesn't pan out, I'll go right up to bed. I promise."

As the screens lit up, she swiped her hands over the keys. "Can we get a thermal reading in this area?" She asked.

JARVIS complied with her request.

"Do you see that?" Izzy said excitedly as she saw the new readings.

"That is odd." JARVIS concluded.

Izzy grinned. "Call Rhodey."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone. I had to be up super early this morning so I had a bit of spare time. Here is chapter 3. I hope you all enjoy it. Please review and let me know what you guys think.**

 **Note: Re-upload**

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Izzy stood on the tarmac at the US Air Force base with Pepper and Happy waiting behind them with the car. She just couldn't contain her excitement on the way over to the base or all last night. They found Tony, he was alive, injured and malnourished and dehydrated, but alive.

Rhodey had been shocked when JARVIS connected her to him.

Pepper held onto Izzy's shoulders to prevent her from running forward before the ramp was even down on the C-17; her grip was tighter than normal, the only thing giving away her nerves and relief as well.

There was medical staff waiting on the sidelines with an ambulance at the ready; posted at a fence a distance away from them were photographers waiting to get a shot of the billionaire.

The minute the ramp finished lowering, Rhodey helped Tony walk down the gradient. Tony's arm was in a sling and there were scratches on his face, but he seemed okay. Tony had his eyes glued to Izzy the entire time. The second his feet touched the ground, Izzy broke free and raced forward. Tony dropped to one knee, regardless of any pain and with open arms, let her crash into him, her arms wrapped so tightly around his neck that he had trouble breathing but could care less. His good arm tightened around her even more as he heard her sobbing into his shoulder.

"Daddy." She cried.

"I know baby." He said quietly rocking her gently. "I'm here. I'm so sorry." He pulled back after a second and smiled at her. "How was Mamma Mia?"

Izzy laughed, still crying, and threw her arms around him again, but gentler this time. Tony held her tightly against his chest with his good arm.

After they had a minute, Rhodey gently suggested they move to the reunion to the car. Father and daughter broke apart reluctantly and they moved to the car after Tony waved off the medics. Izzy never let go of Tony's hand as they walked back to Pepper and Happy.

Tony took in Pepper's red rimmed eyes and had to make a comment. "Tears for your long-lost boss?" He quipped playfully.

"Tears of joy." Pepper said with a genuine smile. "I hate job hunting."

"Well, vacations over." Tony said as they moved to the car.

Izzy immediately stuck to Tony's side like glue once in the car.

"Where to sir?" Happy asked.

"Take us to the hospital please Happy—"

"No." Tony interrupted Pepper.

Pepper looked at him in surprise. "No?" She questioned. "Tony you need to go to the hospital."

"I don't need to do anything." Tony said. "I've been in captivity for 3 months and right now there are two things I want." Izzy looked up at him. "I want an American cheeseburger, and the second thing…"

"That's enough." Pepper said thinking he was going to say something dirty.

"It's not what you think." Tony said. "I want you to call a press conference."

Pepper frowned. "A press conference? What on Earth for?" She asked.

Tony didn't really reply as he looked at Happy. "Hogan, drive." He instructed. "Cheeseburger first."

…

Izzy peered past Tony, out the window as she ate her cheeseburger. Obadiah was already there with dozens of SI employees, all applauding and cheering as they pulled up. As Tony got out, Obadiah gave him a hug.

"Look at this!" Obadiah said. "Tony! I thought you'd be in a hospital. Look at you!" Happy came around the car with the bag of burgers, holding it out for Tony. "Oh, burger, you had to have a burger. Did you get me one of those?"

"There was only one left, I needed it." Tony replied though Izzy knew he had one in his pocket.

Izzy got out of the car, followed by Pepper. Obadiah spared her a quick glance but seeing her staring at him somberly caused him to look away. Izzy held Pepper's hand as they followed along behind Tony and Obadiah.

They stayed behind the small army of reporters as Tony moved through the crowd to get to the stage.

"Ms. Potts?" Both looked over to see a guy in a suit standing beside them.

Izzy looked at him curiously. He seemed familiar to her for some reason, but she liked him instantly, he had a kind look in his eyes.

"Yes?" Pepper said politely.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" The man asked.

Pepper glanced at the reporters. "I'm not with the press conference, but it's about to begin right now." She said.

"I'm not a reporter." The man said. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, I'm with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics division."

Izzy opened her mouth to comment on the name, but she was called forward because Tony wanted her to come to the stage. Pepper quickly straightened the bow in her hair and Izzy went through the crowd to find Tony sitting in front of the podium. She instantly went to go sit next to him, and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her tightly to his side as he kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes for a second. None of the photographers in the room missed the opportunity to capture that moment.

"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down?" Tony called out. "Could we all just sit down? That way I can see everybody, it's a little less formal."

As the wall of reporters knelt down, Izzy noticed Rhodey had joined Pepper in the back. They looked confused.

Obadiah sat down on Tony's other side a little distance kept between them. Tony looked over at him.

"It's good to see you." Tony said. Obadiah put a hand on his shoulder and returned the sentiment. "I never got to say goodbye to dad." He said with a distant look in his eyes. He looked down at Izzy who looked back up at him. He turned his attention to the reporters. "I never got to say goodbye to my father."

Izzy noticed people taking notes as they listened. She looked back up at Tony with curious eyes.

"There are questions I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about the things that his company did." Tony glanced down at Izzy again, seeming to take strength from just laying eyes on her. "If he was ever conflicted, if he ever had doubts." His arm tightened around her. "Or maybe he was every bit the man that we all remember from the newsreels."

Izzy snuggled closer to his side, offering some comfort to him. She obviously didn't know her grandparents, but she knew of them. It was a complicated subject to say the least.

Tony looked up at the reporters, his eyes a little haunted. "I saw young Americans killed…by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them." He said somberly. "And I saw that I had become part of a system that was comfortable with zero accountability."

One of the reporters in the front tentatively raised his hand to ask a question. Tony called on him.

"What happened over there?" The young reporter asked.

"I had my eyes opened." Tony said standing suddenly and moving up on the dais to stand in front of the microphone. "I came to realize I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. I had more to leave behind for my daughter than just continuing a legacy of destruction. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing of Stark Industries."

Izzy couldn't even hear Tony anymore as everyone stood and began talking at once. Obadiah was the first on his feet and was trying to hurry Tony off the stage. Tony gladly stepped down and took Izzy's hand, her gripping his hand tightly with both of hers as he led her through the reporters so they could leave.

Glancing over her shoulder, Izzy saw Obadiah trying to do damage control as the doors closed behind them.

…

Tony had Happy take them to the factory where the massive arc reactor that powered the plant was located. Pepper had work to do so she left the two of them alone.

Izzy hopped up, so she could sit on the railing that created the perimeter around the reactor. Tony stood in front of her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm so glad you're home." She said.

"I'm glad to be back." He replied.

Izzy glanced down at his chest where she knew the mini arc reactor was. If she really focused, she could see the faint blue glow behind his shirt. "Does it hurt?" She asked softly reaching out to put her hand against it.

Tony didn't reply right away. "I'm okay with it." He replied.

Izzy frowned. "Is there anything that can be done about the shards?" She asked.

"How much did Pepper tell you?" Tony asked.

"Enough." She replied. "The rest I found on my own."

Tony sighed but had a faint smile on his lips. "I don't want you to worry about this." He said. "Okay?"

She nodded after a minute. "Okay." She said. "But I want to help."

He frowned. "With what?" He asked.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Come on daddy." She said. "I know you have a plan. You wouldn't have shut down the weapons program so quickly if you didn't. I want to help with whatever it is."

Tony smiled brightly now, pride gleaming in his eyes.

Before he could tell her what the next step was going to be, they were interrupted by Obadiah's stormy arrival.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all, here is chapter 4 for your enjoyment. Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Note: Re-upload**

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Izzy watched Obadiah warily as he charged through the doors like a bull.

"That..." Obadiah seemed almost too angry for words. "That went well."

Tony looked up in amusement. "Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" He asked as Izzy hopped down, clinging closer to Tony.

"Your head?" Obadiah demanded. "What about my head? What do you think the over-under on a stock drop is gonna be?"

Tony shrugged. "Optimistically?" He said.

Izzy looked up at him. "40 Points?" She said.

"At minimum." Obadiah replied glancing at her before resuming his pacing. "Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer."

"Obie, I just..." Tony sighed in frustration, but Izzy hugged closer to him in support. "I don't want the body count to be up..."

"That's what we do." Obadiah said firmly. "We're iron mongers, we make weapons."

"My name is on the face of the building." Tony said.

Obadiah continued on. "What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos." He said.

"Not based on what I saw." Tony replied. "We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better, we're gonna do something else."

Obadiah turned back to him. "Oh, like what? You want us to make baby bottles?" He asked.

"I think we should take another look into Arc Reactor technology." Tony said.

"Oh, come on." Obadiah said. "The Arc Reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Tony, c'mon! We built that thing to shut the hippies up!"

"It works." Tony said.

Izzy cringed slightly. She didn't want to tell Obadiah about it.

"Yeah, as a science project." Obadiah said. "The Arc was never cost-effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc Reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?"

Tony smiled. "Maybe." He said.

"Am I right?" Obadiah asked. "We haven't had a breakthrough in that, in what... 30 years."

"That's what they say." Tony said.

Obadiah started to smile. "Could you have a lousier poker face?" He said.

"Just tell me, who told you?" Tony said.

"Never mind who told me." Obadiah said. "Show me."

Tony continued on. "Rhodey or Pepper?"

"I wanna see it." Obadiah repeated.

"Okay, Rhodey." Tony said before unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the mini-reactor in his chest. Izzy stared at it with wide eyes as well, mind immediately going towards the specs. "It works."

Obadiah stared at it for a second before he looked around and closed Tony's shirt, laughing nervously. "Listen to me, Tony. We are a team, do you understand?" He said. Izzy frowned. "There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."

"I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads up, okay?" Tony said. "But if I had..."

"Tony, no more of this 'ready - fire - aim' business." Obadiah said. "Do you understand me?"

Tony smirked. "That was dad's line." He said.

"You gotta let me handle this." Obadiah said. "We're gonna have to play whole different kind of ball now. We're gonna have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low."

Tony nodded in agreement.

…

Things went as to be expected with Obadiah, but once it was out of the way, it allowed them room to work. Izzy gave Tony her rundown of the things she had learned while he was in captivity, including the shady things that Obadiah had been doing while everyone thought that he was dead. Tony made a decision, and though it was obviously an edited version, he filled Izzy in on Afghanistan, focusing on the MARK I suit and the reactor that he was able to create with Yinsen. Tony recreated the specs in the workshop, so she could see the 3-D version of the mini arc reactor model.

Izzy's eyes widened as she looked at the reactor. "You made this in a cave?" She said as she moved it around and broke it down to examine it in better detail.

"Starks are resourceful." Tony said with a smile.

She nodded and continued to look at the specs.

Tony watched her carefully as she worked through it piece by piece. "Tell me what we should do next?" He said.

She glanced up at him and smiled. This was how he taught her to build everything from circuit boards to engines, he let her break it down and then got her to think about what needed and could be improved. "We need to make this more efficient." She said taking off a few virtual pieces. "Like you said, the one you have now could work for a short time, but if we can create a more powerful reactor while making the next suit more energy efficient than we can do what you're talking about."

"Perfect." He said smiling proudly. "Now let's get to work."

It took them about three hours to create the new reactor because Tony showed her step by step what to do.

Izzy was leaning on her knees on the top of the stool by the workbench, Tony sitting opposite of her as they finished up with the new Arc Reactor. As the device came alive, Izzy stared at it in silent amazement.

…

Izzy was watching at DUM-E and U helped Tony set up the exam table and the clean table to hold the new reactor and some medical equipment that no one in the house was really trained to use. There was a problem with replacing the old arc reactor.

"She's not going to like you very much." Izzy commented.

"She'll forgive me." Tony replied as he got up on the table and took his shirt off exposing the old Arc reactor. He looked towards where the closest intercom was and called. "Pepper! How big are your hands?"

 _"What?"_ Came the very confused reply.

"How big are your hands?" Tony repeated.

There was a pause and Izzy could picture Pepper looking at her hands. _"I don't understand why..."_

"Get down here." Tony said. "I need you."

Izzy climbed up on a stool next to the workbench to watch and see what happens.

"Nope." Tony said. "You're going upstairs."

Her head shot up. "What? No! Why?" She complained.

"Because Princess, you are eight." He said. "You don't need to watch this."

She gave him a deadpan look. "Really?" She said. She made a circular motion with her hand. "This is where you draw the line?"

Pepper appeared at that moment. Punching in her code to the workshop, she stared at the scene before her.

"Hey…Let's see them." Tony called, holding up one of his to demonstrate. "Show me your hands. Let's see them." Pepper held up her hands as she walked forward, still too shocked to respond properly. "Oh, wow, they are small. Very petite. I just need your help for a sec."

"Oh my God, is that the thing that's keeping you alive?" Pepper asked looking at the old core.

"It was, it is now an antique." Tony said handing her the old one. "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future." He picked up the replacement. "I was swapping it up for an upgraded unit and I just ran into a little... speed bump."

"Speed bump?" Pepper asked looking at him in alarm, knowing him too well. "What's happening?"

"It's nothing, it's just a little snag." Tony said reassuringly. "There's an exposed wire under this device and is contacting a socket wall and is causing a little bit of a short circuit."

Pepper frowned in confusion. "What do you want me to do?" She asked.

"Put that on the table over there." He instructed her. "That is irrelevant. I just want you to reach in... and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out."

"Is it safe?" Pepper asked.

 _Safe-ish._ Izzy thought.

Tony was more confident. "Yeah, it should be fine." He said.

"It's just like Operation." Izzy threw in, trying to be helpful.

Pepper glanced back at her and then at Tony. "Operation?" She said confused.

"It's a game,you just don't let it touch the socket wall." Tony said as he looked back at Izzy. "I told you to go upstairs."

Izzy just stared at him with a stubborn expression.

"Never mind." Tony said with a sigh and turned back to Pepper, who was freaking out by the second. "Just gently lift the wire."

"Okay…" Pepper said after a second.

"Okay?" Tony said. "Great."

Pepper stared to reach her hand in but retracted. "You know, I don't think that I am qualified to do this." She said looking at Tony in panic.

"No, no, you're fine." Tony said calmly, reassuringly. "You're the most capable, qualified and trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great." Pepper stared at him. "Is it too much of a problem to ask? Cause I really need your help here."

"Okay, okay." Pepper said. She reached in the hole in his chest and made a face. "Oh, there's pus!"

"It's not pus." Tony said calmly. "It's a plasmic discharge, it's from the device, not from my body."

Pepper whimpered. "It smells!" She said looking up.

"Yeah, it does." Tony agreed, watching what she was doing. "The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?"

"I got it." Pepper said.

Izzy tensed as she watched this unfold.

"Now don't let it touch..." There was a buzzing noise as it shocked him. "...the sides, that's what I was trying to tell you before." He said. "Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull out the magnet and the end of it." The magnet came out. "That was it...that you just pulled out."

Izzy covered her mouth with her hands as the monitors started beeping.

"Oh God." Pepper started to panic. "OK, what do I do?"

"Don't put it back in!" Tony said.

Pepper looked at him. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Tony was having trouble breathing. "Nothing, I'm just going into cardiac arrest because you yanked out..."

"What? I thought you said this was safe!" Pepper cried.

"We gotta hurry." Tony said trying to keep his head. "Take this, you gotta switch, real quick."

"Okay, okay." Pepper said. "Tony, it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna make this okay."

Tony nodded. "You gotta touch that to base plate. And make sure you..." He cried out in surprise as he was shocked again as it was connected. He looked up at her calmly. "Was that so hard? That was fun, right?" He took over attaching the rest of it. "I got it, I got it. Nice."

"Are you okay?" Pepper asked, adrenaline still running.

"Yeah, I feel great." Tony said.

Izzy released the air in her lungs and jumped down as Tony started to laugh.

Pepper actually laughed, despite the situation. "Don't ever, ever…ever ask me to do anything like that ever again." She said.

"I don't have anyone but you." Tony said quietly with a shrug.

Izzy ran over to join them, and Tony lifted her into his arms, hugging her close. "Are we ready?" Tony asked kissing her cheek and she nodded.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper asked.

Tony looked back. "That? Destroy it. Incinerate it." He said.

Pepper frowned. "You don't wanna keep it?" She asked.

"Pepper, I've been called many things." Tony said looking at her. "Nostalgic is not one of them."

Pepper sighed fondly. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She asked.

"That will be all, Ms. Potts." Tony replied with that same gentle tone. Izzy smiled. As Pepper left them, taking the old reactor with her, Tony turned to U. "Hey butterfingers, come here. What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad..." He pointed at the pile, still holding Izzy with one arm. "Right there. In garbage. All that stuff."

Izzy wrapped her arms around his neck. In hindsight, she should have gone upstairs because watching her father start to go into cardiac arrest was very stressful, but in the end, she felt better having watched what to do.

…

That night after Pepper went home, Tony called it early when he saw Izzy fighting to stay awake as she looked over the reactor designs. He walked over and picked her up, her arms wrapping tightly around him, carrying her upstairs. Thankfully Pepper had convinced her to get in her pajamas before she left, so Tony was able to just tuck her into bed.

He kissed her forehead and went to walk out, turning the lights down so only the twinkling lights strung about her room were on. As he moved to close the door, he looked at the massive chalkboard that was on the wall by the door. She was constantly changing it and was actually a pretty talented artist. The one constant thing on the board was she had drawn his name, along with Pepper and Rhodey's names with a unique design around each. She had added a new name to the board: Yinsen.

Smiling faintly, he left the door slightly ajar and went down the hall to his own room to get some sleep. He already knew she wouldn't stay in her room long.

It was only an hour later that Izzy came to crawl into his bed. Tony just wrapped her up in the blankets and cuddled her close, she fell right back to sleep but the tear stains on her cheeks didn't go unnoticed.

Pepper had told him about all the nights that she had found Izzy asleep in his room wearing a sweater or shirt or something of his. It broke his heart that his little girl suffered so much while he was gone, and he wasn't able to do anything about it. Hindsight being what it was, he should have listened to her when she said it was a bad idea to go.

…

Izzy held Tony's hand as they walked onto the Air Force base. She always loved coming here, she loved seeing the jets and the other tech, and she loved visiting Rhodey. As they got closer to one of the hangers, they could hear Rhodey talking to a group of new pilots.

"The future of air combat." Rhodey said. "Is it manned or unmanned?" He looked around. "I tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight—that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome. Or pilot's judgement."

"Why not a pilot without a plane?" Tony asked as they walked up.

Rhodey smirked. "Look who fell outta the sky! Mr. Tony Stark." He introduced. Izzy immediately went to wrap her arms around Rhodey since she hadn't seen very much of him lately. Rhodey returned the hug, lifting her up into his arms as Tony shook hands with the other pilots.

"Speaking about manned or unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong." Tony said with a mischievous look in his eye. "It's spring break, just remember that. Spring break 1987, that lovely lady, what was his name?" The soldiers laughed as Rhodey shook his head, though he was smiling. "Was it Ivan?"

"Don't do that, they'll believe it." Rhodey said laughing good naturedly. "Don't do that. Give us a couple of minutes, you guys." As they walked away, he looked at Tony. "I'm surprised."

"Why?" Tony asked lightly.

"I swear I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon." Rhodey replied.

Tony smiled. "I'm doing a little better than walking." He said.

Rhodey furrowed his brow. "Really?" He looked at Izzy and she had a knowing smile.

"Yeah." Tony confirmed. He lowered his voice. "Rhodey, I'm working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be part of it."

Rhodey smiled. "You're about to make a whole lotta people around here real happy, cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy man." He said.

Tony paused. Izzy shook her head, seeing that he misunderstood. "No, this isn't for the military." She said.

"I'm not... it's different." Tony tried to say.

Rhodey frowned, looking between the two before setting Izzy back on her feet. "What, are you humanitarian now or something?" He asked.

"I need you to listen to me." Tony said.

"No, what you need is time to get your mind right." Rhodey said. Tony smiled. "I'm serious." Tony nodded placatingly. Rhodey was not happy. "It was nice seeing you, Tony."

"Thanks." Tony said.

"Uncle Rhodey." Izzy called after him as he walked away.

Tony put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." He said. "He'll see for himself soon."


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is the next chapter. I caught a cold so I'm stuck at home so I'm working on this when homework is making me cross-eyed. To clarify really quick, I'm just pretending Terrence Howard was never in the first Iron Man movie. Don Cheadle is the better War Machine.**

 **Please review and let me know what you enjoy or dislike.**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

They got back to the house and immediately went to the workshop. Izzy activated the custom keyboards on the table as Tony recreated the wire frame of the MARK I.

"JARVIS, you up?" Tony asked.

"For you sir, always." The AI replied.

Tony sat down and Izzy climbed onto his lap. "I'd like to open a new project file, index as: MARK II."

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries' central database?" JARVIS asked.

Tony frowned as he brought the designs over to the projection table so they could manipulate it. "I don't know who to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server." He said.

"Working on a secret project, are we, sir?" JARVIS asked.

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands." Tony said seriously. He reached out and smoothed Izzy's hair out of her face thoughtfully as she looked up at him "Maybe in time it could actually do some good."

The work took up all of their time and focus. The hours were long, though Tony was careful not to let Izzy go too long without getting food and sleep. She was actually a good reason for him to take breaks too because she refused to sleep or eat if he was still working because she didn't want to miss anything.

"Next. Up." Tony said as he worked on soldering pieces on one of the boots. "Not the boot, DUM-E, right here." He tapped on a spot. "You got me? Stay put. Nice." DUM-E moved again in the wrong spot. "And U, you're no better at it at all. Lift... I got it." DUM-E moved down forcing Tony to move his hand. "Okay, I'm sorry, am I in your way? Up. Screw it, don't even move. You... are a tragedy."

"He's doing good." Izzy said as she reached out to adjust where DUM-E had the magnifying glass.

It was an exciting day when it was actually time to test the boots.

"Okay, let's do this right." Tony said as he stood in the middle of the workshop, wires connected to the reactor to power the boots. "Start mark, half meter back of the center. DUM-E look for light. Stand back for fire safety. U, roll it." Izzy sat back at one of the computers a safe distance away to watch. "Activate hand controls. We are gonna start up nice and easy, raising 10% thrust capacity to achieve lift. And 3, 2—"

Izzy did a quick bit of math in her head. "Daddy, maybe you should start a little lower…" She suggested.

However, it was too late as the thrusters kicked in and he was launched up and back, connecting with a high slanting part of the ceiling. He landed painfully, and DUM-E sprayed him with the fire extinguisher.

"Daddy are you okay?" Izzy said running up.

Tony was hurting from the impact and coughing because of the extinguisher but he was fine overall.

"I told you to start out lower." She said.

Tony went to go clean up while Izzy stayed down in the workshop under JARVIS' protective watch. When Tony came back down stairs, she was sketching a stabilizer out in 3-D.

"I have an idea." She said. "Any bend of your legs is going to propel you in whatever direction. But you can point your hands in the other direction to keep you steady."

Tony expanded her design. "A gauntlet." He murmured looking at it. He could see where he needed to make some design changes, but this was something that could work. "Good job Izzy."

Since the design specs were a little more complicated in the stabilizers Tony did the work himself. Finally, the first mockup was complete.

Izzy was kneeling on the tall stool beside Tony helping with the small connections since he was working with one free hand.

"Up two? Alright, step back." Tony was saying as the door opened.

"I've been buzzing you." Pepper said as she walked in carrying a package. "Did you hear the intercom?"

Tony wasn't listening. "Yeah, everything's... what?" He looked up, braining finally comprehending that she had said something else.

"Obadiah's upstairs." Pepper said.

"Great, I'll be right up." Tony said casually, though Izzy remained staring at the gauntlet, making little adjustments.

Pepper eyed the device wrapped around Tony's arm. "I thought you said you were done making weapons?"

"It isn't. This is a flight stabilizer." Tony replied as Izzy jumped off the stool and moved over to Pepper. "It's completely harmless." He raised his hand towards the back wall.

Just as a reflex, Izzy covered her ears. It was a good thing because the noise from the stabilizer was deafening and the force knocked Tony backwards.

Pepper's hands had moved to cover her own ears and finally she looked at Tony, who was on the ground.

Tony looked up from where he lay on the floor. "I didn't expect that."

…

When Tony and Izzy finally came upstairs, Obadiah was sitting at the piano playing. It annoyed Izzy that Obadiah was sitting there, all the hours that she and Tony had spent there, him playing or teaching her to play, and it felt like Obadiah was intruding on that.

"How'd it go?" Tony asked as they walked over to join Pepper at the sofa. Eyeing the pizza box sitting on the coffee table, Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh, went that bad huh?"

"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad." Obadiah said.

"Sure doesn't." Tony muttered and opened the box to see the toppings. "Oh, boy." He handed Izzy a slice first as she sat on the sofa before getting one for himself.

Obadiah was predictable to a point for Tony and Izzy, unfortunately, it didn't help with finding out what he was doing behind their backs.

"It would've gone better if you were there." Obadiah said.

"You told me to lay low and that's what I've been doing." Tony replied. "I lay low and you take care of all the..."

Obadiah stopped playing and walked over. "Hey, c'mon." He said. "In public, the press...This was a Board of Directors meeting."

Tony feigned shock. "This was a Board of Directors meeting?" He said.

Izzy snickered but Pepper was not amused.

Obadiah came over and sat on the sofa on Tony's other side. "The Board is claiming a Post-Traumatic Stress. They are filing an injunction." He said.

"A what?" Tony asked looking up.

"They wanna lock you out." Obadiah replied.

Izzy narrowed her eyes. Tony frowned. "Why, cause the stocks dip 40 points? We knew this was gonna happen."

"56 and a half." Pepper interjected.

"It doesn't matter." Tony said irritated. "We own a controlling interest in the company."

Obadiah sighed. "Tony, the Board has rights too." He said patiently. "They are making the case that you and your new direction isn't in a company's best interest."

"I'm being responsible." Tony said. "That's a new direction. For me... for the company." Obadiah raised his eyebrows amused. "I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that..." Pepper sighed as Izzy watched him. "Oh, this is great!" He stood up taking the pizza with him and Izzy following close behind.

"Oh c'mon, wait!" Obadiah said. "Tony, Tony!"

"I'll be in the shop." Tony called back as Obadiah moved to come after them.

Obadiah caught his arm and turned him back. "Hey, hey, Tony, listen." He said. "I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them." Izzy moved subtly to stand behind Tony but still with her eyes on Obadiah. "Let me have the engineers analyze that, you know, draw some specs."

"No." Tony said. "No. Absolutely not. This one stays with me. That's it, Obie. Forget it."

"Alright, well, this stays with me then." Obadiah said taking the pizza box. "Go on, here, you can have a piece. Take two."

"Thank you." Tony said taking two pieces, handing one to Izzy.

"Do you mind if I come down there to see what you're doing?" Obadiah called after them.

Tony and Izzy were already moving down the stairs. "Good night, Obie." Tony called back.

Once down in the workshop Tony noticed the package that Pepper had brought down. Opening it, Izzy strained to see what he was holding. Tony smiled and handed it to her as he went to get an ice pack.

Holding the small glass display box in her hands, Izzy saw it was the old arc reactor with a message engraved on it: **Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart.**

Walking back over, Tony lifted Izzy up to sit her on the work bench and looked her in the eyes. "I need you to promise me something okay?" He said.

Izzy looked up from the box sensing the seriousness of his tone. "What is it?" She asked.

"No matter what happens, you cannot give anyone the designs for this reactor." He said touching the one in his chest. "Ever. You understand?"

Izzy nodded. "I understand." She said.

…

"Day 11, Test 37, Configuration 2.0." Tony said as he stood with the boots and stabilizers on. "For lack of a better option, DUM-E is still on fire safety." He looked at DUM-E. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college."

"Don't worry DUM-E, he doesn't mean it." Izzy said as the bot looked down, sad.

"Alright, nice and easy." Tony said bracing himself. "Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity. And 3, 2, 1."

Izzy watched as he counted down and then the thrusters kicked on and he raised about a foot off the ground. Her heart rate quickened as he hovered for a few seconds before dropping back down. She beamed in excitement, but that was only the first step.

"Please don't follow me around with it either cause I feel like I'm going to catch on fire spontaneously." Tony said looking at the bot. "Just stand down. If something happens, then come in." He looked at Izzy."What do you think?"

"Maybe try it at 2.5%?" She replied as she checked readouts on the computer screen.

Tony agreed and activated the thrusters. The started to move around the room, heading towards the cars. "Okay, this is where I don't want to be." Tony said. "Not the car, not the car. Yikes." They cringed as the thrusters warped the paint on the hoods of the cars. "It could be worse. We are fine. Okay, we are getting there." He said as he moved back to the starting point, wobbling for a moment as he hovered before dropping down. Looking at DUM-E, who raised the extinguisher, he raised a hand. "AH, AH!" He said before looking up at Izzy, who was just barely containing her excitement. "Yeah. I can fly."

The next phase was the first test flight.

Izzy walked around, watching as the silver suit was assembled around Tony. She was bouncing in excitement.

"Jarvis, are you there?" Tony asked.

"At your service, sir." The AI replied.

Tony looked around. "Engage head up display."

"Check." JARVIS said.

"Import all preferences from home interface." Tony said.

"Will do, sir." JARVIS replied.

Izzy grinned as she ran over to the computer to watch what he was seeing.

"Alright, what do you say?" Tony said.

"I have indeed been uploaded, sir." JARVIS said. "We're online and ready."

The display was amazing as Izzy watched on the screen. "Start the virtual walkaround." She said.

"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment." JARVIS said.

"Do a check on control surfaces." Tony said.

JARVIS complied. "As you wish."

The flaps and panels on the suit began to move in test, everything working perfectly.

"Test complete." JARVIS said. "Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

"Ah, yes... tell you what." Tony said and Izzy looked up. "Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening the ground control." He looked back at her. "Stay right here, I'll be right back."

"Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight." JARVIS said in worry.

"Jarvis..." Tony said. "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." Izzy frowned uncertainly. "Ready? And 3, 2, 1." He blasted out of the workshop with a shout of joy. "Handles like a dream." He said once he was over the initial shock of the speed. "Alright, let's see what this thing can do. What's the SR-71's record?" He asked.

"The altitude record for fixed-wing flight is 85.000 feet, sir." JARVIS replied.

"Records are made to be broken." Tony said. Izzy watched the screen as he aimed for the moon. "C'mon!"

Izzy was grinning as she watched but suddenly her display started flashing red.

"Sir, there is a potentially fatal build-up of ice occurring." JARVIS said.

"Keep going!" Tony said. "Higher!"

"Dad, come back!" Izzy called before the display blacked out as the suit iced over and shut down. "Oh no! JARVIS, we need to get him back online!"

"I cannot connect with the suit Miss." JARVIS replied, sounding as nervous as the AI could.

Suddenly the suit came back online, Tony having been able to manually deploy flaps to break the ice and bring the suit's power back. Izzy covered her eyes as he almost took out about 20 cars right in the middle of the city before getting high enough and crossing back over the ocean to get to the house.

He hovered over the roof for a second. "Cut power." He said.

Izzy gave a little scream of surprise as Tony came through three levels of the house and crashed on top of the blue Ford Mustang. DUM-E turned and casually sprayed him with the fire extinguisher.

Izzy helped strap an ice pack to his left shoulder as he sat in front of the computers. She got up on her chair, watching what he was working on with the designs.

"Note: main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude." Tony said. He winced as he sat up. "The hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking 'icy' is a probable factor."

"A very astute observation, sir." JARVIS said. "Perhaps if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exo systems."

"Connect to the Cisco, have it reconfigure the shell metals." Tony said. "Use the gold-titanium alloy from the Seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure the fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"

"Yes." JARVIS acknowledged. "Shall I render using proposed specifications?"

"Thrill me." Tony replied turning to look at Izzy, poking her nose, making her smile.

As they sat, the reporter on the TV in the background reached their ears.

 _"Tonight's red hot, red carpeted, right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighters Family Fund has become the place to be..."_

"Jarvis, did we get an invite from them?" Tony asked curiously.

"I have no record of the invitation, sir." The AI replied.

The woman on the screen continued on. _"...haven't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim he's suffering from Post-traumatic Stress and has been bed ridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight."_

Izzy looked at Tony curious of his reaction, but he just seemed amused.

"The render is complete." JARVIS said and they looked at the solid gold image of the suit on the screen.

Izzy wrinkled her nose at the image. "Little ostentatious, don't you think?" Tony asked.

"What was I thinking?" JARVIS said. "You're usually so discreet."

Tony looked past the screen at one of his favorite cars. "Tell you what... throw a little hot rot red in there." He said.

"Yes, that shall help you keep a low profile." JARVIS replied blandly but moved to comply. "The render is complete."

Tony looked at Izzy who nodded in approval. "Yeah, I like it." Tony said. "Fabricate it and paint it."

"Commencing an automated assembly." JARVIS said. "Estimated completion time is five hours."

Tony looked back at the screen and then looked at Izzy, contemplating his choice.

Izzy grinned. "I think you should take the Audi." She replied.

He still seemed unsure.

"You should go." She said. "It'll be good for the world to see you outside again."

Tony shook his head. "I swear sometimes I forget you're only eight." He said.

"I'm eight and a half." She offered.

Tony laughed and stood up. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, going upstairs to get ready.

She saw him in his tux as he came back downstairs. "Listen to JARVIS while I'm gone." He said. "I won't be long." To the AI he casually directed. "Don't wait up for me, honey."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay all, here is another chapter. This one isn't too long but it's, I think, one of the really fun parts of the movie. Let me know what you think, please review.**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy watched the coverage of the red carpet of the charity event while JARVIS oversaw the rendering of the MARK III. She laughed seeing some of the familiar antics that her dad was famous for at these events. However, what she knew that Tony didn't was that Pepper was there in the gorgeous dress that she had gotten 'from Tony' for her birthday.

"JARVIS, you think Pepper and my dad would make a great couple, right?" She asked as she twisted a power cell in her hands.

"I'm afraid I'm not programed to give an opinion on that Miss." He said.

Izzy smiled. As she was working on a side bar to solve an issue for the intelli-crops, a word on the news caught her attention. "Hey J, turn up CNN please." She said.

The report was on a crisis in Gulmira. The reporter gave the grim report:

 _The fifteen miles hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a 'descent into Hell'. Into a modern-day heart of darkness. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes displaced from their lands by warlords, emboldened by a newfound power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever ways that they can find. In the ruins of other villages or here, in the remnants of the old Soviet smelting plant. Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters, referred to by locals as the Ten Rings._ Izzy looked at some of the footage of the people that had captured her father. _As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that can prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way._ Izzy froze as she saw clear images of Stark Industries weapons, including the Jericho Missile within the footage. _With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees. Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband who was kidnapped by insurgents. Either forced to join their militia...to anyone who will stop a child's simple question: "Where are my mother and father?" There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help._

"That's where dad said Mr. Yinsen was from…right JARVIS?" She asked.

"I believe so Miss." The AI said in a somber tone.

…

Tony came back a few hours later looking furious. He had run into Christine Everheart at the event who had shown him pictures of Stark Industries weapons in Gulmira. When Tony brought it to Obadiah's attention, he told Tony that he was the one that had approved the sale of the missiles and had been the one to file the injunction against Tony to lock him out.

Though Izzy wanted to be the one to shout "I told you so" she could see the anger burning in his eyes and she said nothing. It was a tense couple of hours as Tony contemplated what to do as the reports on Gulmira echoed through the workshop. The situation was getting worse and the refugees were in serious danger.

At the mention of the Ten Rings and seeing the few random video clips of some of the terrorists, Tony visibly seethed. For Izzy, this was putting a face to the name of the terrorists that had captured and tortured her father for months.

Sitting on one of the workbenches with DUM-E and U Izzy watched Tony sit on the sofa in front of a TV, adjusting the right gauntlet of the suit, the red and gold paint very different from the basic silver from the MARK II.

After a minute he stood up and paced about the room. This was a state she never really saw him in, where he was so entrenched in his own thoughts that he didn't even seem to notice that she was there.

When she saw him raise the gauntlet like he was going to fire it, she only had a second before she could cover her ears to protect from the noise. He blasted a few of the lights loose and put a hole in the far wall. He fired three more times at the glass walls and door that lead to the stair case. She lowered her hands and her ears were still ringing a bit, but she saw the resolve on his face, knowing what he was going to do.

Breaking out of his revere for a moment, he looked at her. She just nodded.

As JARVIS connected her to the communications system of the suit, Izzy set up the work bench, using all of the screens to monitor radio communications from the government, satellite footage including thermal scans, and news reports. The minute Tony popped up on the military's radar they needed to know about it.

"Daddy, it looks like there is a cluster of weapons located on the outskirts of the town." She said. "I'm sending the info to your heads-up display now, but it looks like there are a group of the Ten Rings in the main square. They have civilian hostages, currently US military is not cleared to engage."

"I got it." Tony sounded grim, even over the roar of the wind that could be heard through the comm.

When it came time for Tony to land in Gulmira, JARVIS cut the feed to Izzy's screens, so she wouldn't be able to see what was happening, but after he was finished saving the civilians, the feed came back up.

Tony found the weapons on the edge of town, but as he was locking on, he was suddenly knocked out of the air.

"Daddy!" She called worriedly.

When he climbed out of the small crater that the suit had made, she was able to see what he saw: a tank just sitting in the streets. Thankfully, that tank was nothing compared to the weapons that Tony had.

It did make a brilliant explosion though.

After Tony took out the remaining weapons, he took off to come back to the house.

"Daddy, military has taken notice." She said listening to some of the chatter. "They're cycling through branches to find out if anyone was responsible. They're calling in Uncle Rhodey."

Rhodey suddenly called the house but Izzy, panicking, ignored the phone call. Rhodey called Tony next while Izzy listened in.

"Hello?" Tony asked.

Rhodey sounded tense. "Tony?" He said.

"Who is this?" Tony probably was having a hard time hearing but the readout in his helmet would have told him that it was Rhodey calling.

"It's Rhodes." Rhodey said.

"Sorry, hello?" Tony said.

Rhodey paused. "I said it's Rhodes." He said a little louder.

Tony was speaking a little louder than necessary. "Speak up, please."

"What the hell is that noise?" Rhodey asked.

"I'm driving with the top down." Tony said causing Izzy to roll her eyes.

Rhodey didn't sound like he believed him. "Yeah, well I need your help right now." He said.

"It's funny how that works, huh?" Tony asked blandly.

"Yeah, speaking of funny, we got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few cliques from where you've been held captive." Rhodey said.

"Well, that's a hot spot." Tony said. "Sounds like someone stepped in and did you job for you."

"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Rhodey asked suspiciously.

Tony paused. "I was just jogging at the canyon." He said.

"I thought you were driving." Rhodey said.

"Right, I was driving to the canyon where I'm gonna jog." Tony said nonchalantly.

Izzy could clearly picture the expression on Rhodey's face. "Are you sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?" He asked.

"Nope." Tony replied simply.

Izzy heard them shout in the background. "Bogey spotted!" Looking at her readouts and the reports she was getting from the military she saw two F-22 Raptors coming up on Tony fast.

"Okay, good, cause I'm staring at one right now and it's about to be blown to kingdom come." Rhodey said and hung up the phone.

"Not good." Izzy said.

She watched in stunned silence as Tony evaded the attacks, eventually clinging to the underside of one of the jets.

Tony called Rhodey back.

"Hello?" Rhodey said after a minute.

"Hi, Rhodey, it's me." Tony sounded a little sheepish.

Rhodey was not amused. "It's who?"

"I'm sorry, it IS me." Tony said. "You asked what that was, and it was me."

Rhodey was pissed. "No, see...this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?" He demanded.

"It's not a piece of equipment." Tony said. "I am in it. It's a suit. It's me!"

Rhodey didn't have time to react because the other pilot spotted Tony on the underside of the other Raptor. The pilot rolled, throwing Tony, but without a chance to correct, Tony went backwards and took out the wing of the jet that he had not been clinging to. The pilot went down but as the pilot ejected, the Shute didn't deploy.

"Dad, the pilots chute jammed." Izzy said as she listened to the comm. "The other pilot has you in sights, they are giving the go ahead to take you out."

Tony dived for the falling pilot, reaching him and breaking the release mechanism open so the chute would deploy. Izzy could hear cheering in the background of the military channels.

After a second, Rhodey got back on the phone. "Tony, are you still there?" He asked.

Tony sounded a little winded but happy. "Hey, thanks." He said.

"Oh my God, you crazy son of a bitch!" Rhodey half laughed. "You owe me a plane, you know that, right?"

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, well, technically he hit me, so..." He trailed off. "Now are you gonna come by and see what I'm working on?"

"No, no." Rhodey said. "The less I know the better. Now what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Training exercise." Tony replied easily. "Isn't that the usual BS?"

Rhodey sighed. "It's not that simple."

..

 _"An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday."_ Rhodey was saying on the news in front of the press at the White House, much to Izzy's amusement. _"I'm pleased to report that the pilot was not injured. As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the U.S. government was not involved."_

Tony cried out in pain as the bots struggled to remove the armor from his body.

"Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt." JARVIS said. If Izzy didn't know that he was programmed without emotions, she would have sworn that he sounded amused.

"Be gentle, this is my first time." Tony quipped causing Izzy to giggle. "I designed this to come off."

"Please try not to move." JARVIS said in almost exasperation.

The locking mechanisms had probably warped during the fighting. Izzy was already thinking of a solution to the issue.

With all the noise in the room, neither Izzy nor Tony noticed Pepper come down the stairs. She was just getting to the house for the day.

"What's going on here?" Pepper asked in shock as she took in all the broken glass, the mess in the workshop, and of course the suit that Tony was currently stuck in.

Everything went quite in the lab, Izzy turned around, eyes peeking out from the back of the sofa, Tony stopped struggling and just looked at Pepper for a long moment. Glancing at the clock, Izzy realized that they had been awake for quite a while.

"Let's face it, this is not the worstthing you've caught me doing." Tony said simply.

Pepper looked closer at the armor. "Are those bullet holes?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is chapter seven. The next chapter is going to wrap up Iron Man and I'll start on Iron Man 2. There are movies I won't be able to cover such as Captain America 1 and the GotG movies but let me know if there is a specific movie you would like me to cover. Just assume the ones that have Iron Man in them I will cover though.**

 **P.S. The next chapter will have an early appearance from another Avenger. Take a guess as to who it'll be :)**

 **As always, please review.**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy sat quietly at the computers reading through the data that JARVIS was pulling from the suit while Tony had the top half of the suit suspended as he made repairs. She had never seen Pepper as upset as she was when she left yesterday, and even though Tony was positive that she was coming back, Izzy wasn't so sure.

When the door at the back of the room near where the elevators were located opened, Izzy looked up and a feeling of relief washed over her as she spotted Pepper.

Tony looked up. "Hey." He said in a quieter tone. "You busy, you mind if I send you on an errand?"

Pepper didn't respond, just kept moving closer, so Tony kept talking. "I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe and retrieve all the most recent shipping manifests." He handed her a drive. "This'll get you in. Look under executive files, and if not, it'll be on a ghost drive which means you need to look for the lowest numeric head."

Pepper stared at the drive in her hand for a long moment before looking up at Tony. "And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" She asked.

"Same deal," Tony said. "They've been dealing under the table and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."

"Tony," Pepper said. "You know that I would help you with anything but…I cannot help you if you're going to start all this again."

"There is nothing but this." Tony said firmly. "There is no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign." His voice steadily rose. "There is the next mission, and nothing else."

"Is that so?" Pepper said with a sigh. "Well then, I quit." She tossed the drive back onto one of the table and turned to leave.

Tony stared after her. "You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefit of destruction," She turned back to look at him. "But now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"

"You're going to kill yourself Tony." Pepper said. "I'm not going to be a part of it."

"I shouldn't be alive." Tony said sitting down. "Unless it was for a reason."

Tony looked more exhausted but determined than Izzy could ever remember seeing him. She moved over to his side, his arm automatically wrapping around her to hold her close.

Pepper watched them. "You have a daughter." She replied indicating Izzy. "She's your reason."

"It's just as much for her future that I'm doing this." Tony said looking at Izzy before looking up. "I'm not crazy Pepper," He said, eye conveying as much vulnerability as his voice. "I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

Pepper watched him for a long moment before she slowly walked back over to the workbench. She picked up the drive and held it in her hand for a moment. "You're all I have too you know." She said.

…

Izzy decided to go with Pepper to the Stark Industries office. Normally, she always had fun going with Pepper, they would always stop and get some kind of treat on the way back, or on the way there depending on how long it was going to take. Maybe it was because she had grown up with Pepper as a constant in her life, but there were very few people that Izzy enjoyed being around as much as Pepper.

Today however, was a stressful visit considering what they were looking for. The other side to Izzy going was to help look for exactly what they needed and as a backup incase the drive didn't work to get Pepper into the system.

Izzy held Pepper's hand as they walked in through the main doors, feeling painfully aware of everything that was going on. A lot of employees smiled at her and a few that she knew waved from their positions.

The security guards all knew her because when Tony was busy in a meeting with Pepper, Happy would take her with him on his routines and they talked with security a lot. It was scary to think that some of these people that she had grown up seeing were not as trustworthy as they had seemed. She wondered how many were working with Obadiah.

Arriving at Tony's office, they moved quickly to the computer. Once they were in, Izzy sat on Pepper's lap so she could find what they needed. Finding the ghost drive she began the download. She found dozens of manifests within the last two weeks along with designs for a massive suit. She kept scanning until she came across a video.

Izzy froze as she saw her dad sitting in a chair, bandages on his chest, suit torn, and surrounded by men with the banner of the Ten Rings.

They were speaking Arabic, so she activated the translator quickly.

"You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark." The man talking said. "As you can see Obadiah Stane, your deception will cost you dearly."

Pepper stopped the video and hugged Izzy, who was near tears, close.

"So,"

Both girls gasped at the sudden voice and looked up to see Obadiah at the door.

"What are we going to do about this?" Obadiah said as he walked in, moving towards the bottle of scotch that was off to the side of the room. "I know what you're going through."

Pepper subtly nudged Izzy to the door as she covered the drive with the newspaper on the desk. Obadiah couldn't stop her without looking suspicious, so Izzy went out the door but stayed close to listen in.

"I was so happy," Obadiah said. "When he came home, it was like he was coming back from the dead."

Izzy clenched her little hands into fists as she listened to this man who had tried to have her father killed.

"And now I realize," Obadiah continued. "Tony never really did come home. Did he? He left a part of himself in that cave. Breaks my heart."

"Well, he's a complicated person." Pepper said. "He's been through a lot; I think he'll be alright."

"You are a rare woman." Obadiah said. "Tony doesn't realize how lucky he is."

 _Well that we can agree on._ Izzy thought.

"Thank you." Pepper said. "Well, better get back there."

Pepper moved to the door, hopefully with the drive.

"Is that today's paper?" Obadiah asked.

"Yes." Pepper said.

Izzy held her breath as she listened.

"Do you mind? Puzzle." Obadiah asked.

"Oh course." Pepper said and came out the door as second later.

As she excited the office, Izzy ran over and took Pepper's hand. She could feel the drive in her hand.

"Take care." Obadiah said after them.

Izzy glanced back, and Obadiah had the terrifying look on his face again. Nothing like the warm expressions he used to have before this all started. The two hurried down the stairs, knowing that Obadiah probably wasn't far behind. As they got to the main lobby, someone called out.

"Ms. Potts." It was Agent Coulson. "We have an appointment. Did you forget—"

"Nope, we're going to have it right now." Pepper said hurriedly. "We're going to have it right now, come with me." Coulson hurried to stand and followed them out.

Pepper sent Izzy back to the house with one of the security personnel to drive her while she went with Coulson.

Izzy sat anxiously in the back seat, gripping her cell phone tightly as she watched the ocean pass by out the window. Even the seas seemed to reflect the turbulent events that were happening, and Izzy just couldn't shake the pit in her stomach as they drove. Something was very wrong. "Please hurry." Izzy said as she tried to call her dad again. She looked out the window as the phone went to voicemail.

Izzy jumped out of the car as it pulled to a stop. She raced up the steps after sending the driver away, quickly getting in the door after a retinal scan and racing inside. She froze as she saw that Obadiah had beat her there and was standing over Tony. He had a small device that Izzy recognized with dread; it was a small device that used sonic waves to cause paralysis that Tony had invented a long time ago. It was rejected by the military, so it was never put in to mass production. She didn't know that there were any models left.

"When I took out the hit on you Tony," Obadiah was saying. "I worried that I would be killing the golden goose, but I thought that maybe I would be able to use the brilliant mind of your child, the way I used you. Then, when you came back, I realized you had one golden egg left to give."

She saw Obadiah pull out another device to take the arc reactor from Tony's chest. "No!" She said causing Obadiah to look up. Tony's eyes turned to her and she met his horrified expression, she understood her mistake instantly and backed up to run but she was grabbed suddenly from behind.

She struggled, realizing in horror that the driver who had brought her here was the one that had caught her.

"It's too bad that you had to involve Pepper and Isabel," Obadiah said to Tony as he looked at Izzy. "I would have preferred it if they had lived."

Izzy screamed and fought against the hold of the security guy, trying to get away but she wasn't strong enough.

"Take her to the lab." Obadiah instructed as they walked out. "She may be of use to us still."

"No!" She screamed and kicked. "Daddy! Daddy!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright guys, here is chapter eight. This ends Iron Man 1. I am probably not going to have the next chapter up for a few days so be patient I will update. Let me know what you think of the cameo.**

 **UPDATE: I am re-uploading this chapter. I didn't like a few things in the chapter so I tried to fix them. Let me know what you think.**

 **Please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy sat in the back of the car, very aware of the gun that the security guy had up front with him. Obadiah had taken another car, thankfully, but Izzy was trying to think of a way to get out of this.

Carefully testing the zip ties around her wrists, she looked up. "Why are you doing this?" Izzy asked. "How much is Obadiah paying you?"

"Shut up." The security guard said.

"Is it enough to cover kidnapping?" She demanded. "Accessory to murder?"

"I said shut up!" He yelled.

She was about to continue but a flash out the window caught her eye. There were a handful of black SUVs that were pulling up around the car. She sat up slowly, looking out the window to see a motorcycle pull up alongside them, the rider was wearing all black and had a black helmet on, the visor tinted so much she couldn't see a face.

The rider looked over at her and made a motion across his chest like he was putting a seatbelt on. She frowned in confusion, but then she noticed with wide eyes, the gun that was in his hand.

Hearing the driver start swearing, she saw the rider aim at the wheels and she quickly sat back, pulling her seat belt on tightly, pressing herself as far back in the seat as she could as he blew the tires out on the car.

Her world suddenly turned upside down as the driver lost control, panicking as he jerked the wheel and flipped the car. She lost consciousness for a second but came to, amazingly right side up as the car landed on its wheels. Shaking her head, she tried to gain her bearings while there was a commotion outside. She vaguely processed her kidnapper getting out of the car, but they were surrounded. There was a lot of shouting outside, but it didn't matter as the door at her side was opened.

"Isabel Stark?"

She looked up at the gentle voice and saw a man with dark blonde hair and kind blue eyes in the doorway of the car. Judging from his clothes, he was the man on the motorcycle. She shrunk away from him, pulling her legs close to her body, head still hurting, and feeling a little sick.

He held up his hands to show that he didn't have any weapons in his hands. "My name is Clint Barton, I'm here to help." He said. "Agent Coulson told me to come get you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why should I trust you?" She asked.

"You're a smart kid." Clint said. "You just saw what we can do, why would I be giving you a choice if I meant to hurt you?"

"I can think of a number of reasons." She replied. She paused for a second, evaluating. "But I do trust you."

Taking that as a sign to move things along, Clint reached forward, pulling a knife out to cut the zip ties from her wrists. "I'm going to check your head." He said as he reached out and felt along her skull gently. "Are you feeling pain anywhere else?" He checked her arms and her legs quickly before backing up.

"No." She said. "I think I just got the wind knocked out of me." She looked up. "My dad is in trouble; we need to go."

Clint held out a hand and she took it.

…

Izzy watched the city go by, still nursing her headache after the crash as she listened to Clint talk to someone on the other end of his phone. He had been making calls since they got into the back of the SUV. "Coulson said that Ms. Potts got ahold of a Colonel Rhodes." He told Izzy, hanging up the phone. "He's going to make sure your dad is okay."

Izzy nodded. "We need to hurry. If Obadiah uses the reactor to power his suit it's going to be really hard to stop him." She said.

"Coulson is already there with five agents." Clint said.

"That's not enough." She replied quietly. She rested her head against the window.

Clint looked at her worried, turning more to face her. "Hey kid, I need you to stay awake okay?" He said gently taking her arms to pull her up, away from the window. "You probably have a concussion."

"Whose idea was in to hit the tires?" Izzy asked blandly but sat up, blinking, trying to stay awake.

"Not mine, but unfortunately your father pays for some pretty durable cars and windows." Clint said.

Izzy smiled faintly.

They stopped at the factory, but Clint stopped her from getting out of the SUV seeing an explosion through the glass in the factory.

"We're too late." Izzy said. "Obadiah activated his suit."

As she spoke, Izzy saw a Pepper run out of the factor. "Pepper!" She called opening the door.

Clint grabbed her before she could jump out of the car. As she watched, the ground erupted between Pepper and the SUV location to reveal a massive iron suit. Obadiah aimed his weapons at Pepper.

"Pepper!" Izzy called as she slipped out of Clint's hold. However, she didn't make it 10 steps before Clint caught up and lifted her up, pulling her away. "No, let me go!" She said. However, she stopped struggling as she saw Tony arrive in his suit. "Dad." Her eyes widened, and she turned to Clint. "I need a phone, please."

Clint, a little thrown by her quick changes in demeanor, handed her a phone.

She dialed a number quickly and held it to her ear as Clint directed her back, away from the fight. "JARVIS, it's me. I'm safe. What is dad using to power the suit?" She listened for a minute. "Patch me through in the comms."

She watched as the fight was moved away from the factory briefly, landing on the freeway. That was gonna be in the papers tomorrow.

"Sir, it appears that his suit can fly." JARVIS said.

Izzy tensed, picturing the specs that she had seen on the computer briefly. "Dad, the suit it's meant for sustained flight, it's too heavy." She said.

"Izzy!" Tony said. "Where are you?"

She sighed. "I'm at the factory, but I'm safe." She said. "Listen, the suits schematics are rudimentary at best…send him to the moon."

"Duly noted." Tony said getting her meaning. He spoke to JARVIS. "Take me to the maximum altitude."

"With only 15% power, the odds of reaching that altitude..."

Tony cut the AI off. "I know the math! Do it!" He said.

"13% power, sir." JARVIS said.

"Climb!" Tony said.

"11%." Izzy tensed, her grip on the phone tight.

Tony was determined. "Keep going!"

"7% power."

"Just leave it on the screen, stop telling me." Tony said.

Izzy didn't know if she even wanted to hear it, but she could do the math for every second that ticked by. She kept her eyes trained on the sky, faintly able to see the fire from the suit thrusters. After an eternity, the suits were coming back down towards the factory, probably faster than was safe.

"We are now running on emergency backup power." JARVIS said.

The comms cut out and Izzy couldn't listen in anymore. She hadn't the phone back to Clint. She scanned the building, she looked what Pepper was doing, watching as she ran inside while Tony and Obadiah continued the fight on the roof.

"He wants her to overload the reactor." Izzy said suddenly as it dawned on her. She looked up at Clint, who was now looking at her. "If she does that, everything on the roof will get fried!"

She started to run forward, but Clint caught her, kneeling down to her level to hold on to her and keep her away from the blast as the reactor overloaded. "Dad!"

...

Izzy sat wedged on a chair with Tony as he read the paper about "Iron Man", the ongoing press conference on the TV behind them with Rhodey currently talking with reporters, and Pepper using makeup to conceal the bruising on Tony's face.

Izzy kicked her legs lightly, looking at her white sneakers with pink shoelaces. Pepper had put her in a pink dress with a white vest on and had tied her long raven hair in a half ponytail with a pink bow. Izzy had insisted on the sneakers though.

"Iron Man is kinda catchy." Tony said as he closed the paper. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"Even though it's not actually made of iron." Izzy said.

Coulson walked up at that moment with some cue cards. "Here's your alibi." He said. "You were on your yacht. We have four papers that put you in Avalon all night with sworn statements from 50 of your guests."

"See I was thinking that we should say it was just Pepper and me on the island." Tony said causing Pepper to unnecessarily yank a steri-strip off his face. Tony smiled at her.

"That's what happened." Coulson said with a patient smile. "Just read it word for word."

Tony frowned as he continued reading. "There's nothing about Stane here." He said.

"That's been handled." Coulson replied calmly. "He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record."

Izzy looked at Coulson in a little bit of awe and shock at the blasé way that he said that statement.

"What about this whole story that it's a body guard?" Tony said in confusion and annoyance. "He's my body...? That's kinda flimsy."

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark." Coulson said.

 _Clearly._ Izzy thought.

"Just stick to the official statement and soon this will all be behind you." Coulson said. "You've got 90 seconds."

While they talked about the final details, Izzy got up and walked out of the room for a second where Agent Barton was waiting for Coulson. Clint smiled faintly and knelt on one knee as she came over closer.

"Thank you for saving me." She said.

"Any time kiddo." He replied.

She gave him a quick hug as Coulson was heading out; Izzy ran over to stand next to Pepper. She wrapped her arms around Pepper as she looked up at Coulson.

"Agent Coulson, I wanted to thank you very much for all your help." Pepper said.

"That's what we do." Coulson said. "You'll be hearing from us."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "From the Strategic Homeland—"

"Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson said.

"Right…" Izzy said smiling.

"Let's get the show on the road." Tony said walking over, putting his jacket on, que cards between his teeth. "You know, it's actually...not that bad...even I don't think I'm Iron Man."

"You're not Iron Man." Pepper said as she helped him fix his tie and straighten his collar.

"Yeah I am." Tony said.

Pepper frowned. "You're not." She replied.

"Suite yourself." Tony shrugged. "If I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck. She'd always be worrying that I was gonna die, and yet proud of a man I become." Izzy watched in amusement as Tony spoke, Pepper looking up at him. "She'd be…wildly conflicted, which would only make her more…crazy about me." Tony looked at the redhead. "Tell me you never think about that night?"

"What night?" Pepper asked.

 _Yeah, what night?_ Izzy was staring at them now with wide eyes.

"You know." Tony said.

"Are you talking about…the night that we danced and went up to the roof..." Pepper said with a faint smile. "And then...you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you... left me there by myself?" Izzy sighed as realization dawned on Tony's face. "Is that the night you're talking about?" Tony cleared his throat. "I thought so. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"Yes, that'd be all, Ms. Potts." Tony said.

As Tony went out to talk to the press, Pepper sat down, and Izzy came up to sit next to her to watch the conference.

"And now Mr. Stark has prepared a statement." Rhodey introduced Tony. "He will not be taking any questions, thank you."

Tony cleared his throat. "It's been a while since I was in front of you, I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." The reporters chuckled in response. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..."

Christine Everheart interrupted suddenly. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit, that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that..."

"I know that it's confusing..." Tony said, a little patronizingly. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I'm some sort of superhero."

"I never said you're a superhero." Christine replied.

"You didn't?" Tony said quietly.

Izzy saw the change in his face. "Uh-oh." She said as he went off the rails.

"Well, good, because that would be outlandish and…fantastic." Tony said. He looked up. "I'm just not the hero type, clearly. With this…long list of character defects and all the mistakes I've made, largely in public."

Rhodey leaned over. "Just stick to the cards." He reminded him.

"Yeah, okay." Tony nodded and looked at the cards, taking a deep breath. "The truth is…" He paused and looked up. "I am Iron Man."

The reporters erupted into a fury, everyone talking at once, and the picture of Tony standing there with a smirk on his face would be one of the immortalized images of this entire journey they were about to start.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay! Here is the beginning of Iron Man 2! I'll keep this brief. This is the longest chapter I have written so far but you all deserve it for waiting so long. There are a few swear words in here so if that offends anyone, I'm sorry.**

 **Let me know what you all think. Please review!**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

 _I am Iron Man._

There really hadn't been much in the last 70 years that had sent the world into such a frenzy as the announcement of a modern-day superhero. Here they were six months later, and Izzy was watching the kick off to the first Stark Expo since Howard Stark hosted the last one in 1974.

"It's starting." She said as she watched the dancers, nicknamed the Ironettes, came out on the stage.

"If your dad going to be in the Iron Man suit?"

Izzy looked at the boy who was about her age, laying on his stomach on the floor with eyes fixed to the TV. "You'll have to wait and see." She said smiling.

Johnny Storm and his sister Sue, who was sitting on the sofa with Izzy, were pretty much her only friends. Izzy was the first to admit that she was not easy to get along with because she really didn't want to make the effort to get along with anyone her own age. Johnny and Sue, however, could meet her in an academic manner to a certain point, and they had saint like patience with her idiosyncrasies.

Tony told her that he used to collaborate briefly with Franklin Storm when she was a baby, but when they stopped their work together it was too difficult to keep the three of them separated so that was how they had stayed friends despite the break of professional partnerships.

Izzy saw one of the fireworks explode prematurely and laughed. She knew that Tony had collided with the firework on his way down to the stage. As the Iron Man suit landed on the stage everyone went crazy, including Johnny who thought it was the most amazing thing.

"Oh, it's good to be back." Tony said as the suit was taken off to reveal him in a suit.

"Blow something up!" Someone in the audience yelled.

Tony looked amused. "Blow something up? I already did that." He said to the audience's cheers. Tony looked around. "I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace because of me." Everyone cheered. "I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in recent history." Izzy rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven't found anyone who's man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day!" People were going ballistic. "Please, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's not even about us. It's about legacy. It's about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. And that's why for the next year and for the first time since 1974, the best and brightest men and women of nations and corporations the world over will pool their resources, share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future. It's not about us. Therefore, what I'm saying, if I'm saying anything, is welcome back... to the Stark Expo!"

"That's so cool!" Johnny said.

Izzy smiled but subtly pulled out the Starkphone that she and Tony had invented over the summer. She looked at the reading of _15% blood toxicity_ sent directly from the meter that her father had, and she felt her heart sink. They had discovered that the palladium that was powering the reactor in his chest was also poisoning him, and it got worse with every use of the suit.

No one was allowed to know, Tony even tried to hide it from her for a while, but it was impossible to keep it a secret when she was with him in the workshop almost all day, every day.

Johnny was oblivious to her troubles as he excitedly talked with Sue about the Expo. Mr. Storm was going to be participating in the Expo, so Johnny and Sue were going to get to go, but tonight was the only night for a few months that Izzy was going to be able to see her friends, so she was spending the night. Or so she thought. About 2 hours later, Pepper arrived at the house and apologetically explained that she had come to get Izzy.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked as the driver put her bag in the trunk of the car. She had said her goodbyes with much disappointment.

"We have to be in DC by the morning." Pepper said. "Your dad got a summons. He's been subpoenaed to appear before a special committee in congress over the Iron Man suit."

Izzy stared at her. "Really?" She deadpanned.

Pepper nodded. "Unfortunately." She said.

Izzy followed her into the car and slumped back against the seat. It was the first chance she had gotten to spend with her friends in a long time and it was cut short by a subpoena.

Somewhere during the drive Izzy had fallen asleep. She stirred as Pepper carded her fingers through her hair, vaguely aware she was laying on Pepper's lap. She heard Pepper talking with someone and then Tony's voice sounded closer to her ear before she felt herself lifted up and out of the car.

Izzy cracked her eyes open and recognized the lobby of a hotel that they frequented. She wrapped her arms around Tony and fell back asleep against his shoulder before they even reached the elevator.

…

Wearing a red dress with a ruffled skirt, black boots, and a black leather jacket, Izzy fidgeted next to Pepper as they sat in the audience, watching the panel. She was bored, and she was still tired, so she was a little cranky.

Pepper, being ever the professional, kept a calm smile on her face as she calmly worked to keep Izzy entertained and in her seat. Izzy would read somewhere later, a comparison to a mother handling a child.

As Izzy slid down in her chair for a fifth time, Pepper leaned down and quietly whispered in her ear to knock it off or she would have Happy take her to the car and she wouldn't be allowed to come back in. Izzy grudgingly sat up but sat still. She did happen to notice Tony looking back and smiling in amusement having watched the interaction.

"Mr. Stark." Senator Stern said to get his attention.

Tony purposely ignored him as Pepper motioned for him to turn back around.

"Mr. Stark!" The senator repeated.

"Yes dear." Tony said turning back around, the audience laughing.

The senator didn't find it amusing. "Can we please pick up where we left off?" He said.

"Absolutely." Tony said, the patronizing smile still in place. He didn't want to be there any more than Izzy did.

"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?" Senator Stern asked.

"I do not." Tony said.

The senator raised an eyebrow. "You do not?" He said in disbelief.

"I do not." Tony said then amended. "Well that would depend on how you define the word weapon."

"The Iron Man weapon." Senator Stern said in a bit of a challenge.

Tony calmly replied. "My device does not fit that description."

"How would you describe it?" The senator asked.

"I would describe it by defining it for what it is." Tony said.

"Which is?" The senator prompted.

Tony thought about it. "It's a…a high-class prosthesis." He replied, which got some chuckles from the audience, but he continued, completely serious. "That's actually the most apt description I can give it."

"It's a weapon Mr. Stark." Senator Stern said. "It's a weapon."

Izzy narrowed her eyes as she watched this senator, getting more annoyed with the proceedings with every word out of his mouth.

Tony was getting frustrated as well. "Please, if your priority was really the wellbeing of the American—"

"My priority is getting the Iron Man weapon turned over to the American people." Senator Stern said talking over Tony.

Izzy opened her mouth to shout at him, but Pepper was ready and subtly raised her hand in front of Izzy's mouth.

"You can forget it." Tony said. "I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To surrender it would be to surrender myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution depending on the state you're in."

There were more than a few laughs from the audience.

Senator Stern got a little flustered. "I wouldn't know anything about—"

"About prostitution?" Tony interrupted quickly. "Of course not, you're a senator!"

The got a roar of laughter from the audience, but when Tony looked back Pepper, she was not amused. Izzy was very amused, and she was even more amused seeing how red a few of the senators on the panel got.

Senator Stern was determined to get things moving again. "I would like to call Justin Hammer, the current weapons contractor for the United States Military." He said.

Izzy rolled her eyes as she laid eyes on the blond man in his blue suit looking as smug as ever. Of all the overrated people that there were in engineering right now, Justin Hammer was by far at the top of the list.

"Let the record reflect that I observe Mr. Hammer entering the chamber," Tony said. "And I'm wondering if and when the actual weapons expert is going to be in attendance."

Hammer took the jab well for the most part. "You're right, I'm no expert." Hammer said. "I'd differ to you on that Anthony. You're the wonder boy. I may not be a weapons expert, but you know who was? You're dad! Really a father to us all…"

As Hammer started his little speech, Izzy felt Pepper turn and look back. She followed her gaze and spotted Agent Coulson in the back of the room. Izzy smiled as she saw him, waving.

Despite being the stoic S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson's lips twitched in a brief smile towards her.

Pepper got up, Izzy following, and quietly gave Tony his phone. "Agent Coulson is here I'm gonna go get his take on this." She whispered.

Tony looked back and subtly waved. He grabbed Pepper's hand. "Ben's Chili Hole. Hot dogs for the ride home." He said.

"Chili on the dog or on the side?" Pepper asked.

"It doesn't matter, get some of everything." He said. "Tons of stuff."

Izzy elected to stay with Tony. She frowned at Tony, eyes conveying how much she wanted to just go home. Tony hugged her close with one arm and whispered in her ear that they would be done soon and had her sit in the chair on his right side, which earned a frown from Stern.

"In the last 6 months, Tony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities." Hammer said. "And yet, he insists it's a shield and asks us to trust him as we cower behind him. I wish I were comforted Anthony…I really do. I wish I could leave my door unlocked. But that's not the world we live in."

Tony just listened impatiently as he talked. Izzy smirked but didn't say a word, just stared at Hammer, making him really uncomfortable when he noticed her gaze.

"God bless Iron Man, and God bless America." Hammer said as he sat down, wrapping up quickly.

"The committee would now like to invite Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber." Senator Stern said.

"Rhodey?" Tony said in surprise. "What?"

Izzy looked back to see Rhodey walking in, dressed in his military uniform. Tony rose up to meet him, shaking hands. They exchanged a few words and she distinctly heard Rhodey tell him to "drop it" over something.

They sat down, Rhodey on the other side of Tony, opposite Izzy.

"I have in front of me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon compiled by Colonel Rhodes." Senator Stern said looking at a thick manuscript in his hands. "Colonel, for the record can you read page 57 paragraph 4?"

"You're asking that I read specific selections from my report?" Rhodey said.  
"Yes sir." Stern said.

"It was my understanding that I would be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner." Rhodey said.

Senator Stern squirmed in his seat. "I understand, a lot of things have changed today." He said.

 _Yeah, you're trying to twist facts to your own agenda._ Izzy thought bitterly.

"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not convey the summery of my—"

"Just read it, Colonel, I do." Stern said interrupting.

Izzy smiled faintly. Interrupting a decorated soldier was a definite no-no in the eyes of the public; Stern was only digging his hole deeper.

"Very well." Rhodey said. He sighed. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the nation and her interests." He quickly continued on before Stern could interrupt. "I did go on, however, to say that the benefits far outweigh the liabilities and it would be in the best interest to fold Mr. Stark into the chain of command."

"That's enough Colonel." Stern said.

 _Strike two._ Izzy thought smiling brighter.

"I'm not a joiner by I'll consider Secretary of Defense, if you ask nicely." Tony said causing the audience to laugh. "If we could amend the hours a bit."

"I'd like to move on if I may," Stern said. "And show the imagery connected to your report."

"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public." Rhodey said clearly upset by the direction that this was heading. He pegged Stern the same way they did.

Stern did not care. "I understand, and if you could just narrate those images for us, Colonel, we'd be very grateful." He said.

Rhodey sighed quietly and motioned for them to bring the images up on the screen. "Intelligence suggests that objects in these photos are attempts to make manned copies of the Iron Man suit." Rhodey said.

As he talked Tony looked at the screens curiously before he took out his phone and started pressing on the screen as Izzy stood up, moving around his chair to stand between Rhodey and Tony to get a better view.

"This has been corroborated by our allies," Rhodey said. "And intelligence on the ground suggests that these suits are quite possibly at this point operational."

"Excuse me Princess." Tony leaned forward, Izzy moving a little closer to Rhodey so as not to be in the way. "Hold on one second buddy." He said louder, tapping on the screen and they watched him hack in to the monitors, a text box coming up saying 'Welcome Mr. Stark'. "I'm commandeering your screens. I need them."

"What is he doing?" Stern demanded.

"If I could direct your attention to said screen," Tony said. "I believe that's North Korea."

Izzy leaned against Rhodey's shoulder as she watched a massive looking mech-suit fall over and shoot a bunch of people, including the camera man amid screams.

"Turn that off." Stern said. "Take it off.

Hammer got up to help turn the screens off.

"Iran." Tony said as the screen changed.

The suit launched up in the air violently and then crashed back to the ground, also injuring people.

"No grave threat there…" Tony said as the screen changed again. "Is that Justin Hammer?"

Hammer was on screen alongside a test suit working through body movements.

"Justin, you're on tv buddy, focus up." Tony said as Hammer furiously tried to shut off the feed.

Tony looked at Rhodey, who hid a smile behind his hand as the talk in the crowd grew in noise.

As Hammer, on screen, turned his body to the side, the suit turned as well but too far and too fast. They heard a snap and a scream from the guy in the suit. You could hear Hammer saying "oh shit" off screen.

Izzy's eyes widened as she watched that.

Hammer grabbed the cord for the tv and unplugged it, walking back to the table. Stern put a hand to his face.

"Wow." Tony said glancing at Izzy. "I'd say most countries, 5-10 years away…Hammer Industries…"

"20." Izzy interjected causing the audience to laugh.

"I'd like to point out that test pilot survived." Hammer said as he got back to his seat.

Izzy frowned. "At what cost to him though because of your incompetence?" She asked. Tony tugged lightly on the end of her ponytail.

Hammer glared at her.

"I think we're done, is the point that he's making." Stern said cutting off the conversation.

"Point is, you're welcome." Tony said.

Stern frowned. "For what?"

"Because, I'm your nuclear deterrent." Tony said. "It's working, we're safe, America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it!" Tony stood up. "But I did you a big favor. I've successfully privatized world peace."

Everyone stood up, applauding.

"What more do you want?" Tony said, gesturing back at the panel. "I tried to play ball with these ass clowns."

"Fuck you Mr. Stark." Stern said as the other senators cringed. "Fuck you buddy."

Izzy laughed and shook her head. Tony grinned and put his sunglasses on, blowing a kiss to the senators and giving a thumbs up. He had won this round.

Rhodey stood up and Izzy took his hand as they watched Tony shake hands with people and look at the camera to deliver one final message.

"My bond is with the people." Tony said. "I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. Because if there is one thing I've proven, is that you can count on me to pleasure myself."

Izzy laughed, even Rhodey had to smile because it was just so typically Stark.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi all! Here is the next chapter, not as long of a wait as last time. Sorry about that. As semester goes on I will probably have occasional breaks in the story but I'll try to keep them brief. Quick note, for those that haven't watched the special features on Iron Man 2, the scene with the scene where Tony asks Pepper to get chili dogs and the scene starting out this chapter are from the deleted & extended scenes. **

**Let me know what you guys think, please review as always. Next chapter we are going to see Izzy and Natasha meet for the first time!**

 **NOTE: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy sat across from Rhodey on the Stark private jet, finally out of the dress, wearing jeans, a little Ramones t-shirt, red converse, and she had kept the leather jacket, but it was currently draped over the back of her chair. She was tucking in to her chili dog that Pepper had waiting for them when they got to the jet, while Tony ranted about Rhodey being at the hearing.

"You could have given me some warning before you ambushed me." Tony said.

"I didn't ambush you." Rhodey said. "I sent you a report."

Tony frowned. "You didn't send me a report." He said.

"He sent you a report." Pepper confirmed.

"It was the packet I sent you." Rhodey said. "The one with big red letters on the top saying fact check this."

Izzy nodded. "I read it." She said around a mouthful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Tony said frowning.

"It was on your desk." Pepper said. "Anyways, can we please get through this list?"

Tony looked between Rhodey and Pepper. "I'm Iron Man." He said.

"Well Iron Man," Pepper said with a bland expression. "Can we please get through this?"

"Neither of you have any idea what that's like." Tony said.

Pepper just decided to continue on like he hadn't spoken. "I think we should cancel Monaco." She said looking at the list.

"You guys are going to Monaco?" Rhodey asked looking up.

Tony looked at him. "We're going to Monaco." He said motioning between them.

"I can't." Rhodey said.

"That's our thing, you have to go." Tony said turning fully to face him.

"I have a lot of stuff that I need to do." Rhodey said. "I have responsibilities."

Tony looked at him. "Just say what you want to say." He said. "You don't want to hang out with me."

Rhodey thought about this carefully. "I think…hanging out with you right now…would be bad for our friendship." He said.

Pepper winced. Izzy stared at him with her mouth open.

"What do you call that?" Tony asked Pepper. "Call the shrink. I gotta find out what just happened. That is criminal."

…

Pepper and Rhodey went their separate ways after they landed. Happy took Tony and Izzy back to the house in Malibu.

Izzy rolled the windows down on the drive, taking a deep breath of the warm ocean air. "I love Malibu." She said. "I miss New York, kind of, but I love being right on the beach."

Tony didn't immediately say anything, so she looked back and saw him staring at her with a look that she couldn't quite place. "What?" She asked with a smile.

"Nothing." Tony said quietly. "I just can't believe how big you're getting. My baby…all grown up."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled. "Dad don't start getting mushy." Izzy said turning back to look out the window.

Though she joked about it, the reality was too painful to think about. It might not be a long and she wouldn't have him anymore if they couldn't find a way to reverse the blood poisoning.

When they got back to the house it was getting late; both were exhausted and just crashed instead of heading to the workshop. Around 3 hours after they got home, Izzy walked in to Tony's room, a light blanket wrapped around her like a cloak with a hood, and she crawled up onto the bed. She lay down beside him and his arms instinctively wrapped around her protectively, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She stared at the muted glow of the arc reactor beneath his shirt as she slowly drifted off to sleep again.

The next morning, Tony and Izzy were in the workshop bright and early.

"Okay." Tony said clapping his hands as JARVIS brought everything to life. "Wake up. Daddy's home."

"Welcome home sir." JARVIS said. "Congratulations on the opening ceremonies, they were such a success, as was your senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on sir."

Tony laughed, amused, but Izzy made a face.

A noise in the background caught his attention, Tony looked back to see U using the blender. "U!" He called.

U turned, knocking over the blender and the green mixture in it.

"I swear I'll dismantle you; I'll soak your motherboard; I'll turn you into a wine rack." Tony said turning away.

"Don't be mean to him!" Izzy protested.

Tony looked at the green drink in his hands. "How much of this am I supposed to be drinking?" He asked.

"We are up to 80oz a day to counteract the symptoms." JARVIS replied.

Tony pulled out a small device to check the blood toxicity.

"Blood toxicity at 24%." JARVIS said. "It appears the continued us of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition."

Izzy frowned, concern evident.

"Another core has been depleted." JARVIS said as Tony took the latest reactor model out of his chest to swap out the cores.

They looked at the cartridge style core that was reduced to looking like a burnt potato chip. "God, they burn out quick." He said.

"I've run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as viable alternatives for the palladium core." JARVIS said. There was a slight pause if the AI's voice. "You are running out of both time and options."

Tony lifted his shirt to see the image of the growing pattern on his chest starting at the reactor, showing the poison spreading. Tony looked up and noticed Izzy watching him with worry in her eyes. He appeared to have forgotten that she was in the room, but his face cleared of concern as he focused on her, dropping his shirt to cover the marks.

"Ms. Potts is coming." JARVIS said. "May I recommend that we inform her—"

"Mute." Tony said as Pepper opened the door.

The minute she walked in, it looked like she was sick. Her face was flushed, and she had a cough.

"Are you joking." Pepper asked, sounding hoarse but angry. "What are you thinking?"

"What?" Tony said after he finished his drink.

"What are you thinking?" She demanded again.

Tony rolled backwards. "Hey, I'm thinking I'm busy." He said. "And you're angry about…something. Do you have the sniffles? I don't want to get sick."

"Did you just donate our entire modern art collection to the—" She was lost for words she was so furious.

"Boy Scouts of America?" Tony supplied helpfully.

"Boy Scouts of America!" Pepper cried.

Tony walked through the lab, clearing holographic projects as he went, Pepper following. "It's a worthwhile organization, and although I didn't physically check the crates, yes. And technically it's my collect, not our collection."

"You know what, I think I'm actually entitled to say 'our' collection," Pepper said. "Given the amount of time I spent, over ten years, curating that."

"It's a tax right off." Tony said. "I needed that."

Pepper sighed. "You know, there is only about 8,011 things I need to talk to you about." Pepper said as she followed him.

As they started talking about the expo, Izzy sighed and walked away to work on something, going to the opposite side of the workshop. She knew what Tony was going to do, so she went to help get DUM-E set up.

After a minute, Tony ran over to hang up a weird picture of Iron Man up on the wall while Pepper protested. They were talking about a few contracts that Stark Industries had taken on, but Tony didn't want to hear it.

"You run the company." Tony was saying.

Pepper looked like she wanted to strangle him. "Yes, I'm trying to run the company, but you will not give me the information I need to—"

"Just do it." Tony said.

The red head looked about one smart remark away from smacking him. "I'm trying to do it—"

"Pep, you're not listening to me." Tony said cutting her off. "I'm trying to make you CEO. Why won't you let me?"

Pepper paused as she heard that. She squinted at him. "Have you been drinking?" She asked.

"Uh chlorophyll." Tony said.

Izzy walked up with DUM-E who had a bottle of champagne and glasses. "I've actually given this a fair amount of thought." He said walking over to them. "Turns out I can appoint anyone I want as my successor as CEO. I knew there was no one better for the job than you." He popped the cork out of the bottle.

Pepper was shocked. "I—I don't know what to think." She said as she sat down.

"Don't think, just take it." Tony said as he handed her a glass. They clinked the glasses together and Izzy hugged Pepper in congratulations. Pepper wrapped her arms around the little girl tightly and smiled at Tony.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi all! Here is a fairly quick chapter, I hope you guys like it. Just a brief introduction to Natasha (Natalie) and just a little glimpse of something coming up. We're in Monaco next! Hope to update soon but I have an exam coming up so we'll see 0.0**

 **As always please review :)**

 **NOTE: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy was sitting in the living room working on her Starkphone, looking for any combination of elements, something, that could work as a viable replacement for palladium. Tony was in the gym room sparring with Happy in the boxing ring and normally she would be close by, but she was enjoying the quiet for a minute.

As she tried to combine a couple elements, the door opened, and Pepper walked in followed by another woman with dark red hair. Izzy looked up curiously.

"Izzy," Pepper said. "Where is your dad?"

"Gym with Happy." Izzy pointed in the direction of said room. "Who is this?"

Pepper motioned back. "This is Natalie Rushman, she is from our legal department." She said. "She's here to notarize the transfer of the company."

Izzy tilted her head as she met Natalie's gaze. "You look familiar." She said. "Have we met already?"

"No." Natalie said with a kind smile, voice a little hypnotic and disarming. "I don't believe we have yet."

Izzy jumped off the sofa and walked over as Pepper continued on to the gym to get Tony, or at least get him to pause in the sparring session. "You're really pretty." She said as they walked.

"Thank you." Natalie said smiling. "You're very pretty too."

Izzy smiled as she took Natalie's hand, leading her to the gym room. She heard Pepper call out that the notary was there and to come sign the documents.

"I'm on Happy time." Tony replied, accented by the sound of boxing gloves meeting various body parts.

Natalie and Izzy reached the room to actually see the two in the ring now.

Happy noticed Natalie first and directed Tony's attention to her.

"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." Pepper said as Natalie and Izzy walked up, Natalie letting go of Izzy's hand to have Pepper sign some papers.

Technically, Pepper was going to be the CEO until Izzy turned 18 years old. Since Stark Industries was considered her birthright, Pepper had insisted that there be a clause allowing Izzy to be given the opportunity to run the company when she became an adult if she chose to take over. Either way ownership of SI was retained by Tony until he died, at which point it would be passed to Izzy. Pepper just didn't realize how close that reality was getting.  
"What's your name lady?" Tony asked.

"Rushman." She called instantly. "Natalie Rushman."

"Front and center." Tony called indicating for her to join him in the ring.

Pepper frowned. "No, you aren't going to ask her to—"

"If it pleases the court." Tony said not giving in.

"It's okay." Natalie said smiling patiently and going over to the ring.

Izzy watched the exchange between the two curiously. She knew all the people in the legal department, Natalie was new, but for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen her before. She was impressed watching the woman kick off her heels and get into the boxing ring without hesitation.

Tony left her in the ring to come over and sit next to Pepper after instructing Happy to give her a boxing lesson.

"Who is she?" He asked quietly as Izzy walked over. She wrinkled her nose as she picked at the sweaty hoodie that Tony was wearing.

"She is from legal." Pepper said as she typed away on her blackberry. "And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that."

"I need a new assistant." Tony said pulling Izzy in for a hug, the little girl squealing and giggling as she tried to squirm away from the sweaty hug. Tony gave Izzy a big kiss on the cheek and then let her go.

"Yes, and I have three very good candidates lined up." Pepper said without looking up from her blackberry.

"I feel like it's her." Tony said.

Pepper did look up now. "No, it's not." She said.

"How do I spell your name, Natalie?" Tony asked as he clapped his hands, bringing up the digital keyboard on the coffee table next to him.

"RUSHMAN." Natalie called back.

"Very impressive." Tony said as he scrolled through her information and some lingerie modeling pictures. "French, Italian, Russian…Latin? Who speaks Latin?" He swiveled his head to look at Pepper.

"No one speaks Latin. It's a dead language." Pepper said. "You can read Latin, you can write Latin, but you can't speak it."

As they spoke Izzy was watching the 'boxing lesson' in the ring as Natalie did a crazy flip and got Happy in an arm bar, bringing him down to the mat. "Whoa!"

"Oh my god!" Pepper cried in shock.

"That's what I'm talking about." Tony said walking over.

Happy staggered up. "I just slipped." He said.

"Oh yeah?" Tony said ringing the bell. "Looks like a TKO to me."

As Natalie got out of the ring and put her heels back on, she noticed Izzy watching her intently. She cleared her throat and looked at Tony. "Mr. Stark, I need your impression." She said.

"Quiet, reserved, I don't know if you have a soul…" Tony said.

"I meant your fingerprint." Natalie said with a faint smile, opening her folder and holding it out.

Tony put his finger on the ink pad and then pressed it to a box on the paperwork.

"How are we doing?" Pepper asked walking up.

"Great." Tony smiled at her. "It's all done."

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" Natalie asked.

"No." Tony said as Pepper spoke.

"Yes, that will be all Ms. Rushman." Pepper said. "Thank you very much."

Izzy looked between them, trying not to laugh at the aura of jealousy that she was seeing.

As Natalie walked away, Tony turned to Pepper. "I want one." He said.

"No." Pepper replied and smiled.

…

Izzy was sitting on her bed a few nights later looking at her phone. Her bags for Monaco were set off to the side and would be put in the car tomorrow. While she enjoyed watching the race, she had another reason for loving France.

Normally, while Tony and Rhodey were watching the race, Pepper would take Izzy shopping or to do something else. This year would be a little different because Pepper had business in Monaco as the new CEO, so Izzy had to stay with Tony, which wasn't bad, it was just a little disappointing.

Natalie was still on her brain as she went through her phone. She still felt like she recognized the woman and the fact that she was having such a hard time placing her was really annoying.

Finally giving up, Izzy looked at the massive glass wall that faced the ocean. "JARVIS how are things going with the Expo?" She asked.

"A few promising inventions to date." JARVIS said bringing up a projection of the projects that he had found, aware of the criteria that they looked for in inventions. "There have already been a few contracts awarded."

Izzy looked through the different inventions, curious. "Is there anything for providing clean water to places that don't have it?" She asked.

"There are a few, however, they are not up to a workable model yet." JARVIS said. "Miss, you have a long flight tomorrow to look over these. Shall I save them, so you can get some sleep?"

Izzy smiled at the not so subtle instruction to go to bed. "Okay. Night JARVIS."

"Good night Miss."

…

 _~ Izzy couldn't breathe right. She kept trying to cough and force air in and out of her lungs. Her eyes were burning, and her nose was running. She could hear a commotion outside the door as she felt an almost subtle rock of the boat she was on, feeling just kind of sick._

 _The little girl covered her ears at the sound of gunfire and screams outside and pulled her legs close, just focusing on the Little Mermaid graphics on her pajama pants legs._

 _Suddenly, everything went dead quiet for a long moment. She couldn't hear anything but the lap of the water against the side of the boat. Uncovering her ears, she tried to listen for a sound as she struggled to control her coughs._

 _After a moment, the door opened. ~_

"Miss, it's time to wake up." JARVIS said in a softer tone, turning the lights on slowly to bring her out of sleep without startling her.

Izzy moved through the morning, dressing and going downstairs, trying to recall the dream that she had been having. However, the longer she thought about it, the more it slipped away from her. Finally, as they were getting ready to leave, she gave up.

"Ready?" Tony asked looking at her as he finished putting her hair into a simple braid.

"Yep." She said hopping off the kitchen stool. "Bye JARVIS. We'll be back in a few days."

There was an almost fondness in the AI's voice as he said, "Have a safe journey Miss."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi all. Had a brief break in between studying so here is another chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.**

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Izzy peaked out the window of the car as Happy drove them towards where the Monaco Grand Prix was being held and where they were going to be for a large portion of the day. Tony and Pepper were talking, not paying attention to the scenery, but Izzy couldn't wait to get out and explore when she had the chance.

Though Happy and the other security guys had gotten better at catching her, Izzy was still prone to wander off, so she could explore without having someone tell her where to go. Those times were one of the few moments where Tony used his 'dad voice' and laid down the law so to speak, but she still did it occasionally if it seemed safe enough.

"Dad can we go look at some of the shops today?" Izzy asked looking back.

"Sure." Tony said glancing over at her. "It'll be after the race though okay?"

She nodded and turned back to the window to watch the ocean and buildings pass by.

When they arrived at the Hotel de Paris where they could watch the race, there were already plenty of reporters waiting for a picture. Tony got out and gave a salute to the crowd, as Izzy kind of hid behind him, not wanting to be in the pictures. Pepper joined them as they walked inside the hotel where Natalie was waiting for them.

"Whatever happens just go with it." Tony said to Pepper as they walked in.

Izzy looked at him. That never ended well when he said something like that.

"Go with it?" Pepper looked at him in concern.

"Mr. Stark." Natalie walked up.

Izzy looked at her father with a raised eyebrow. Now she understood, he hadn't told Pepper that he had hired her as his new assistant.

"Hey." Tony said nervously.

"How was your flight?" Natalie asked with a professional smile.

Tony took a drink that was offered to him as did Pepper. "It was excellent." He replied.

"We have one photographer from the ACM if you don't mind." Natalie said taking both their drinks, so the picture could be taken.

"When did this happen?" Pepper asked through her teeth in a tight smile, referring to Natalie.

Izzy quickly scooted out of the way of the picture and stood next to Natalie as she watched Pepper seethe at Tony even though she was smiling. Tony for his part wasn't helping matters by being himself about it.

When the photographer left Tony moved away as Pepper spoke with someone quickly. Natalie fell into step beside him and Izzy followed, holding on to Tony's hand to avoid getting bumped by the crowd of people.

"You look fantastic." Tony complimented.

"Why thank you very much." Natalie said.

Izzy quietly studied Natalie as they walked. Her movements, her responses, they were too well rehearsed for someone who apparently got taken from legal to be a personal assistant.

"What's on the docket?" Tony asked.

"You have a 9:30 dinner." Natalie said.

Tony took his sunglasses off. "Perfect. I'll be there at 11:00." He motioned to a table in the corner that had a great view of the race. "Is this us?"

"It can be." Natalie said.

"Great, make it us." Tony said.

"Okay." Natalie said and went to speak with the manager.

Pepper rejoined them at that point, and they moved over to the bar talking quietly. Izzy watched them go for a minute before she turned to look out the window at the race. When the waitstaff moved to clear the table and prepare it for them, she went over to Pepper and Tony.

"Green is not a good color on you." Tony said, referring to the jealousy they were both sensing from her about Natalie being there.

Instead of letting that escalate, Izzy pulled the ribbon in her hair loose and ran up to Pepper. "Pepper, I caught my ribbon on something." She said.

Pepper instantly smiled at her and Tony lifted her up onto the high barstool, so Pepper could fix it.

"Anthony."

Izzy looked back and she had to work very hard not to groan as she saw where the voice had come from.

"My least favorite person on Earth." Tony muttered under his breath before turning. "Justin Hammer."

"You're not the only rich guy here with a fancy car." Hammer said laughing obnoxiously.

Pepper finished tying the ribbon and Izzy just lean more towards Pepper, as far away from Hammer as she could get while still on the stool. Pepper rubbed her back gently as Izzy rested her head against Pepper's shoulder.

"You know Christine Everheart, from Vanity Fair magazine?" Hammer said as Christine walked up, saying a polite hello.

"Hi." Pepper said but it was with her business smile. "Yes."

Tony turned to acknowledge her as well looking like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

"Big story," Hammer said to Christine pointing at Pepper. "New CEO of Stark Industries, congratulations."

"I know." Christine said smiling. "My editor would kill me if I didn't grab a quote."

"Sure." Pepper said politely.

Hammer, ever the petty one, said. "She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair."

"Oh yeah, she did quite the _spread_ on Tony last year." Pepper said looking at Tony, who was looking anywhere else but at Pepper.

"And she wrote a story on him as well." Izzy said causing Hammer to choke on his drink.

Tony pinched her side lightly in reprimand but was trying really hard not to laugh. "Why don't you go see if Natalie has the table ready." He said in her ear before lifting her down from the stool.

Izzy grinned and ran off to find Natalie.

As they got seated Tony went to the bathroom. While he was in there, Izzy got a ping on her phone. She checked it and frowned. Blood toxicity up to 53%. Looking up, she noticed Natalie watching her this time, so she quickly put her phone in her jacket pocket. She turned her eyes back to the race.

Tony had been gone for a while before they started hearing a commotion in the crowd and then the announcement, though in French, caught their attention on the TV near the table. Tony was going to be driving in the race having taken over the Stark Industries sponsored car, much to the anger of the driver.

Izzy looked at Pepper who was staring at the TV screen in worry. She was beginning to notice the way Tony was behaving as well though she still didn't know why.

Izzy monitored the screen, watching for number 11. As the race continued on, everyone began to freak out because a crew member in an orange jumpsuit walked out onto the track. Izzy narrowed her eyes as she watched this man as he calmly strode out amongst these insanely fast cars like there was no danger of being hit.

As the greasy looking man pulled open the top of his jumpsuit, her eyes widened, and her stomach dropped. There was a palladium arc reactor in his chest though it wasn't embedded the way that Tony's was. As he walked forward, head on into traffic, the top half of his jumpsuit burned away revealing whips powered by the reactor.

The first unfortunate driver to come around the corner was met with the whip, which cut through the front of the car like a hot knife through butter. The car flipped up into the air and tumbled end over end before crashing into the high fencing that was protecting the spectators.

"Izzy stay here with Natalie." Pepper said suddenly.

Izzy looked at her and watched her leave, following Happy, who had the suitcase suit handcuffed to his wrist. They had to get the suit to Tony before it was too late. Izzy got up but felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Natalie standing next to her, her grip firmly keeping the young girl in place. Turning her eyes back to the screen, Izzy looked just in time to see the number 11 car come around the corner.

The whips made short work of the front of that car as well and it flipped, landing upside down on the track. Izzy tensed and tried to see if there was any movement or anything but the smoke in front of the cameras was too thick.

Cameras did catch sight of Happy driving down the track against the flow of traffic, it was a miracle that they didn't get into a wreck as well.

The man with the whips was walking toward Tony's car, as he did, three more cars wrecked behind him trying to avoid, not only the man but the wreckage already there.

As the man got to the SI car, he raised a hand and sliced through it with ease.

Natalie pulled Izzy close as Izzy cried out in horror.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi all! Thank you for being so patient with my updating, school has been crazy! This chapter is a little on the dramatic side but things are going to start picking up. I'll try to have another chapter up in a day or two.**

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Izzy felt a little of the tension leave her chest as she saw Tony on screen, alive, but it returned full force as she watched him decide to face the whip guy without his suit.

He was knocked to the ground. He dodged once, twice, three times before he was able to get to his feet again.

Her breath hitched as he was knocked against a wrecked car and he didn't get back up. She felt Natalie's arms tighten around her. "Come on dad, get up." She said quietly.

As if he heard her, Tony shot up out of the way of the whip, which struck the car igniting the gas tank causing an explosion. As Tony got up again, he hurriedly jumped up and clung to the fence as Happy, in the car, sped in and struck the guy with the whips, pinning him to the barricade.

Tony jumped back down from the fence, and she could see him exchanging words with Happy and Pepper before the whips started cutting out chunks of the car. Finally, she saw the red and silver suitcase get tossed out and it slid over to Tony.

Despite the terrifying situation going on that required it, Izzy actually had a moment of pride because the suitcase suit had been her idea. Tony had been talking about how to bring the suit with him whenever he was traveling, and Izzy had just offhandedly mentioned the suitcase suit idea. It took them three weeks to figure out how to make it work.

Despite the danger, people crowded around behind the fence to see the suit in action.

As the helmet closed, Tony kicked the side of the car, shoving it out of harm's way. As he raised a hand to fire the bad guy was anticipating it and one of the whips struck his left gauntlet, damaging it. Another whip struck out creating a gouge across the chest plate making Tony stumble.

Every shot that Tony took, aiming for the reactor was deflected. Both whips struck out, one wrapping around his right arm and the other wrapping around his neck. With surprising strength, the bad guy was able to pull Tony around, flinging him against the hood of the car. Releasing Tony's arm, the whip wrapped around his neck began to glow brighter as more power was sent through the cable.

Izzy held her breath as she watched as Tony stood, wrapping the cable around his arms to he could bring himself closer, dodging strikes from the other whip. As he got up next to the man, Tony was able to take him out, ripping the arc reactor off his chest and crushing it. Security came and pulled the guy to his feet, dragging him away.

The man spit a mouthful of blood in Tony's direction. "You lose!" He said laughing as he was drug away.

The guy was taken away by French police, but their problems were just beginning.

…

Pepper had to handle the aftermath of the incident at the track and Natalie was reorganizing the schedules, so Izzy sat in the back seat of the new car alone, Happy in the front, as she waited for Tony. He was working with the French police and he was going in to talk with the man who had attacked him. There were obvious rules against allowing a nine-year-old into the detainment center, and she didn't trust Tony to tell her the complete truth about what was going on inside; she pulled out her Starkphone and hacked in to the security system, specifically the room that was holding the attacker.

Putting in her small earpiece, she listened to the audio as Tony walked in to the room. She heard him talking to the police chief in French, the chief told Tony he only had 5 minutes to talk.

The door shut behind Tony and there was a deafening silence. Tony stared at the man, who had his back turned to him. The man's clothes had been stripped and he was sitting in only his underwear on a small bench at the other end of the room. Izzy took note of the faded prison tattoos.

"Pretty decent tech." Tony said after a minute, slowly walking around, keeping a wide berth between them. "Cycles per second were a little low, you could've doubled up your rotations." He watched the man looking for a reaction. "You focused your repulsor energy through ionized plasma channels, it's effective but not very efficient."

The man's silence was unnerving. It was like he knew something vital and that made it feel like he had the upper hand, despite the shackles.

"It's a passible knock off," Tony said sitting down on the opposite end of the bench from the man. "I don't get it, a little fine tuning you could've made a solid paycheck, sold it to North Korea, China, Iran…" The man looked at him as he continued. "Or gone right to the black market. You look like you got friends in low places."

That finally got a response from the man, he spoke in a thick Russian accent. "You come from a family of thieves and butchers." He said. "And now like all guilty men, you tried to re-write your own history. You forget all the lives the Stark Family has destroyed."

Izzy frowned as she listened to him. What was he talking about?

"Speaking of thieves, where did you get this design?" Tony asked, not flinching at the man's words.

"My father." The man said. "Anton Vanko."

As she listened, Izzy quickly searched for Anton Vanko. The initial search came up with nothing, but there were some flags that she had to look at later. She turned her attention back to the video feed.

"Well I never heard of him." Tony said.

"My father is the reason you are alive." Vanko said.

This made Tony bristle a little bit. "The reason I'm alive is you had a shot, you took it, you missed." He replied.

Vanko raised his eyebrows. "Did I?"

Tony stared at him for a moment, Izzy subconsciously held her breath as she listened.

"If you could make God bleed," Vanko said. "Then people will cease to believe in him. There will be blood in the water and the sharks will come. All I have to do is sit here and watch as the world will consume you."

"Where will you be watching the world consume me from? That's right, a prison cell." Tony stood up. "I'll send you a bar of soap."

"Hey Tony, before you go." Vanko said as Tony walked away. "Palladium in the chest, painful way to die."

Tony knocked on the door to be let out as Izzy ripped the earpiece out, dropping her phone on the seat.

…

Izzy sat on the jet drawing in her sketchbook, trying everything she could to avoid looking at Pepper or going to talk to Tony or anything because she knew the minute she did, she would start crying and she wouldn't be able to stop.

The tv was playing an interview with Senator Stern on MSNBC where he was bashing Tony about the fact that Vanko had the arc reactor technology. Pepper was watching it with a sad, tired expression on her face.

Tony came out of the back and stood in the doorway to the main part of the cabin, he looked at Izzy for a minute, but when she didn't look back at him, he looked at the tv.

She hadn't spoken a word to him since he came out of the jail. Not that he had spoken much either, but it was unusual for them and both Happy and Pepper were noticing.

Pepper sighed as she watched the interview.

"Mute." Tony said and the tv silenced. He sat down and looked out the window, staring at the sunset going below the clouds.

"Tony." Pepper said softly. "What aren't you tell me?"

Tony looked at her, a little caught off guard. Izzy glanced up and watched the two subtly.

"I don't want to go home…" Tony said. "At all."

Pepper looked at him, a little concerned.

"Let's cancel my birthday." Tony said. "We're in Europe, let's go to Venice. Cipriani."

Pepper smiled.

Tony smiled faintly. "Remember?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." Pepper said smiling.

"It's a great place to just…be healthy." Tony said quietly glancing out the window again.

Izzy felt the tears building behind her eyes again.

"I don't think this is the right time." Pepper said gently. "We're in a bit of a mess."

"Yeah but maybe that's why it's the best time." Tony replied.

Pepper shook her head. "Well, I think as the CEO I need to show up." She said.

Izzy could see an expression on Tony's face that she had never seen before, and it scared her.

"As CEO you are entitled to leave." Tony offered.

 _Just tell her! Please!_ Izzy wanted to sob.

"Leave?" Pepper asked in shock. "At a time like this?"

"I'm just saying, take a second to recharge our batteries." Tony looked down.

Pepper replied sadly. "Not everyone runs on batteries, Tony."

Tony forced a smile at her friendly jab. Pepper smiled back and got up to speak with the pilot. Tony looked back out the window.

Feeling lost, like she was being swallowed up by everything, Izzy stood up and walked over to Tony. He looked away from the window, took one look at her expression and let her climb onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. They didn't say anything, he just held her as her silent tears dripped onto the collar of his shirt.


	14. Chapter 14

**New chapter, yay! So just to preface this, there is going to be a bit at the end that will require explaining, I will explain in the next chapter I promise. I am already working on it. We're going to start in the more hopeful direction of the movie in the next chapter :)**

 **As always please review!**

 **EDIT: I finished chapter 15 early so I am immediately uploading it with this chapter. Enjoy!**

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The minute they got back to the house in Malibu, Tony and Izzy left Pepper and Natalie upstairs and went down to the workshop. Tony sat in one of their vintage convertible cars, Izzy climbed in and sat on the door next to Tony.

"This is what I've found so far." Izzy said holding up her phone and flicking it in front of them, the images of Anton Vanko appearing before them.

JARVIS took over from there bringing up dozens of other files on Anton and his son, the man with the whips, Ivan.

"Inquiry complete sir." JARVIS said. "Anton Vanko was a soviet physicist that defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and deported in 1967. His son Ivan, who is also a physicist, was accused of selling soviet era weapons grade plutonium to Pakistan and served 15 years in prison. No further records exist."

As JARVIS wrapped up the information, Rhodey keyed in to the workshop. "Tony, you've got to come upstairs and get on top of this situation right now." Rhodey said.

Izzy looked at him for a second and then looked back down at Tony, who seemed a little sluggish.

"Listen, I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day," Rhodey said. "Trying to talk them down from rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door and taking these." He pointed at the suits against the far wall. They're going to take your suits Tony, okay, they are sick of the games."

Tony didn't turn around and acknowledge him, he just kept staring at the information about Vanko.

"You said no one would possess this technology for 20 years." Rhodey said. "Well, someone had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore."

Izzy wasn't looking at Rhodey at all anymore, she was staring worriedly at Tony who had an ashy color to his face.

"Are you listening to me?" Rhodey touched Tony's shoulder.

Tony looked at him with glazed eyes.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked softly, seeing that something was wrong.

Tony clapped him on the arm and smiled. "It's good." He scooted across the seat to get out on the other side while Izzy jumped down. As Tony got out of the car, he started to collapse.

"Daddy!" Izzy said worriedly, putting her hands on his chest, pushing up as Rhodey rushed around the car to help him.

"Hey, you alright?" Rhodey asked taking hold of Tony's arm.

Tony winced in pain. "Yeah, I should get to my desk." He said.

Slinging on of Tony's arms across his shoulders, supporting his weight, Rhodey helped him over to the desk while Izzy rushed over ahead of them to get the cigar box that held the palladium cores. She pulled out a new core as Tony took the reactor out of his chest. The used core was smoking and sizzling when he pulled it out.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked staring at it.

"If you must know it's neutron damage." Tony said still breathing heavily. "It's from the reactor overload."

Izzy swapped them out and Rhodey got a good look at the damaged core. "You've had this in your body?" Rhodey asked.

Tony didn't reply, just turned away to put the reactor back in his chest.

"And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" Rhodey asked seeing the poisoned veins.

"Road rash." Tony said after a second.

Rhodey looked at him and then looked at Izzy, who was staring intently at the box of cores, her small hands gripping it tightly. Rhodey leaned back against the desk, staring at Tony as he reached for the container of chlorophyll on the desk.

Tony looked back at him. "What are you looking at?" He asked.

"I'm looking at you." Rhodey replied. "You want to do this whole lone gunslinger act and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone."

"You know, I wish I could believe that." Tony said, frustration leaking into his voice. "I really do. But you've gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Izzy looked at him. With the exception of being thrown into raising a child, she knew that for the first time in a long time, he had no idea what he was doing. There was no plan to fix this.

…

The night of the party was one of the worst nights of Izzy's young life. She wasn't going to the party, it was planned for adults anyway, so she was going to stay in the workshop away from the noise and activity. As she sat at the desk, she saw the notification of 89% palladium toxicity pop up on her phone.

She wanted to hide, she wanted to scream. She had no idea what to do to fix it and they were running out of time.

Izzy was feeling guilty as well, Tony had tried to talk to her after Rhodey left, but she wasn't having it. She had run away from him and she had been hiding from him ever since. In previous years she would be at his side until he had to join the party, helping him decide on watches and ties to wear, but she couldn't do it. It felt to much like helping him decide what he was going to be buried in.

There was a ton of commotion upstairs, she could feel the vibrations of the music through the structure of the house and it didn't help that Tony had the suit upstairs as well. He was drunk and was acting like a fool.

JARVIS was giving her updates on what was going on upstairs every few minutes or so at her request. Each update was more ridiculous and frustrating than the last. Rhodey and Pepper arrived within a few minutes of each other and Izzy was praying to whatever she could think of, that they would be able to talk some sense in to him.

When Rhodey came down stairs, Izzy knew that it was a futile hope. "Uncle Rhodey?" She asked softly.

"I'm sorry Izzy." Rhodey said. "But your dad is out of control. Someone has to stop all this."

Izzy didn't reply as she watched him activate the MARK II armor and take it back upstairs. Izzy followed quietly, pausing at the top of the stairs as people rushed out of the house after Rhodey ordered them out. She could hear Tony and Rhodey arguing, well Rhodey was yelling more at the moment, Tony was just drunk. When the fighting starting, that was when things started to really spiral.

"Natalie!"

Izzy turned to see Pepper angrily walking towards Natalie.

Natalie started. "Ms. Potts—"

"Don't you Ms. Potts, me. I'm on to you." Pepper said. "Ever since you got here—"

Pepper was cut off as Tony fell through the ceiling, followed by Rhodey. Izzy sighed, the placement of the hole in the ceiling was about where the piano was. _Not again._ She thought.

As the fight between Rhodey and Tony continued, Happy got Pepper out of the way, taking her outside. Natalie went the other way, heading towards the front door.

Natalie paused as she saw Izzy standing at the stairs, looking a little lost. "Miss. Stark." She said walking over and holding out her hand. "Come with me, it's not safe right here."

"Natasha." Izzy said without thinking about it, a memory stirring in the back of her mind as she looked at the red curls and outstretched hand.

Natalie paused in surprise. "What?"

Tears welled up in Izzy's eyes, falling down her face. "Natasha, please." She said. "You have to help my dad; I don't know what else to do."

"Put your hand down." Rhodey yelled, drawing their attention.

They looked back to see both men had their hands raised, ready to fire a repulsor shot.

"You think you have what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony said sounding sober.

"You don't have to do this." Rhodey said.

Tony wasn't relenting. "You wanna be the War Machine? Take the shot!" He said.

"Put it down!" Rhodey yelled.

"Do it!" Tony said.

"Drop it Tony!" Rhodey said.

They fired, and the energy lasers connected, building up.

"Oh no!" Izzy yelled.

Natalie grabbed her and pulled her down the stairwell, out of the way of the resulting explosion. Natasha pulled her close, shielding Izzy's small frame. When they were sure that it was okay, ears ringing, they moved back up the stairs together, Natalie holding on to Izzy's arm to keep her close in case there was a danger.

Rhodey was flying off with the suit, taking one last look behind him before he disappeared. Tony was gone as well, whereabouts unknown.

Natalie looked down at Izzy, who turned her eyes away from the damage and looked up at the red head. With a sigh, she pulled out a phone and held it to her ear. "This is Natasha Romanoff." She said to whoever was on the other line. "Put me through to Director Fury."


	15. Chapter 15

**EDIT: I finished this chapter early so I am immediately uploading this with chapter 14 as well so please read that before you read this one. Thanks!**

 **Here is another chapter! Trying to get this moving along and not make y'all wait so long for chapters. So this is going to give a tiny bit of backstory on how Izzy knows Natasha. Also Clint is going to make another appearance, he and Izzy are going to become good friends throughout this story. Our favorite SHIELD Director has arrived as well.**

 **As always, let me know what you think!**

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It was around 4:00am, about 5 hours after the horrible end of the party. Natalie, really Natasha, had been on the phone nonstop since she had made the initial call. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Agent Coulson and Clint, much to Izzy's delight, had arrived within half an hour of the call being placed.

Director Fury arrived about twenty minutes ago and there had been a lot of activity.

There was a bit of a disagreement between the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Izzy when they wanted to get into the workshop, and she said no. She may have ended up throwing a wrench at someone. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. became a bigger presence after the incident with Stane, Tony and Izzy had spent a lot of time changing their security, so she knew that they wouldn't be able to take anything but it was still the principle of the matter and she didn't want them to snooping around in that room. Clint, who was kind of assigned as the one to watch her since Coulson knew they had a report with one another, found it deeply amusing that all of the agents were now scared and intimidated by a little girl.

Fury was not having any of it.

"I don't have the time to debate this." Fury said once Izzy had agreed to talk to him. "We just need to know where your father is right now."

Izzy was sitting cross-legged on the kitchen counter, not the least bit intimidated. "Sorry, I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye?" She quipped causing Clint to flick her shoulder. She winced, glaring at Clint, but turned to look at Fury with a serious expression. "What's going to happen once you find him?" She asked.

"Hopefully, help him." Fury said not bothered by her attitude.

She stared at the man in front of her, appraising whether she believed him or not. She was aware of his late-night visit to the mansion a week after the "I am Iron Man" thing, and she knew about the Avengers initiative, but she still wasn't sure if he could be trusted.

Clint, who was standing nearby with Natasha and Coulson, looked at Izzy. "We can't try to help unless you help us." He said.

Izzy sighed and pulled out her phone from her back pocket. She pressed on the screen and looked at the readings. "He's here." She said holding up the phone, screen facing Fury.

Most of the agents, including Natasha, went with Fury to talk with Tony. Clint was instructed to stay behind since she needed security and he wasn't afraid of her.

Clint rifled through the fridge and cabinets to make Izzy a simple breakfast while they waited. He handed her a plate of toast with ricotta cheese spread on it and fruit piled up and honey drizzled on top. "Nat told me that you knew who she was." He said as they walked out onto the balcony to watch the sun rise. Also, that furniture hadn't been destroyed. "How did you figure it out?"

Izzy chewed the bite she had taken and swallowed. "I remembered her." She said after a second picking up a blackberry and popping it in her mouth.

Clint raised an eyebrow, inviting her to continue as he drank a cup of coffee.

"I was…four…maybe?" Izzy said trying to recall the memory. "It was the first kidnapping attempt that actually worked. Dad had a busy year with Stark Industries, and I was getting really bored at the office, so they experimented with putting me in a kindergarten. Now that I think about it, it was Obadiah's idea. It was one of those schools that were for politicians' kids and celebrities. Lots of security. Well, someone made it past that security, and I happened to be the one that they grabbed."

Clint tilted his head slightly. "I remember that." He said. "It was a big deal at S.H.I.E.L.D. when you were taken."

"Next thing I knew I was locked in a room on some big boat." She said. "I don't remember a lot of what happened after that, I remember my eyes burning, but also there was a big commotion outside the room and then I saw Natasha. She held out a hand to me and smiled. She said that she was going to take me home." Izzy shook her head, chasing away the memory. "After that I was rarely away from either Dad, Pepper, Rhodey, or Happy. It wasn't the first or the last attempt, but it was the only successful kidnapping. Thankfully S.H.I.E.L.D. was watching I guess."

Izzy looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "Clint can S.H.I.E.L.D. help save my dad?" She asked.

"I don't know." Clint said honestly. "But I know Director Fury is going to try."

She nodded and went back to her food just watching the ocean become brighter.

"Miss." JARVIS said. "It appears that Director Fury has located Sir, would you like me to patch you through to the helmets communication system, so you can listen?"

"Yes please J." Izzy said. "Thank you."

Izzy put her phone between them as the audio came through on speaker, so she and Clint could listen.

 _"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to exit the donut!"_ They heard Fury talking first.

Izzy raised an eyebrow and quickly looked to see where Tony was. She rolled her eyes seeing Randy's Donuts.

 _"I told you I don't want to join your super-secret boy band."_ Tony said once inside, sounding very hungover.

Fury laughed. _"No, see I remember. You do everything yourself. How is that working out for you?"_

 _"It's, umm…sorry I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye?"_ Tony quipped.

Clint looked at Izzy in surprise considering she had spoken the same words not an hour ago. She just smiled innocently at him.

 _"Actually, I'm a bit hungover."_ Tony said. _"I'm not sure if you're real, or…"_

 _"I am very real."_ Fury said. _"I'm the realist person you're ever going to meet."_

 _"Just my luck."_ Tony muttered. _"Where is the staff here?"_

 _"That's not looking too good."_ Fury said, obviously seeing the markings on Tony's neck.

They heard footsteps on the linoleum. _"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."_ That was Natasha.

 _"Huh."_ Tony said. _"You're…fired."_

 _"That's not up to you."_ Natasha replied simply.

 _"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff."_ Fury said.

Tony sounded tired. _"Hi."_ He said blandly.

 _"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow."_ Natasha said. _"Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."_

 _"I suggest you apologize."_ Tony said.

 _"You've been very busy."_ Fury said. _"You made you girl your CEO, you're giving away your stuff, you've been quietly securing the company for you kid, you even let your friend fly away in your suit! Now if I didn't know better—"_

 _"You don't know better."_ Tony interrupted. _"I didn't give it to him, he took it."_

 _"Whoa, wait, he took it?"_ Fury said. _"You're Iron Man and he just took it?! Is that possible?"_

 _"According to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines there are redundancies in place to prevent unauthorized access."_ Natasha said. _"And judging from the fact that Isabel was in the workshop and didn't attempt to stop him, I would venture that it was planned."_

Izzy didn't look up, though she could feel Clint looking at her. That had been a rough day when Tony sat her down and made her promise not to interfere with giving the suit to Rhodey.

 _"What do you want from me?"_ Tony asked.

 _"What do we want from you?"_ Fury said. _"No, no, what do you want from me? You created a problem that I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the south west region I have to deal with. Hit him."_

There was a hissing sound and Tony made noise of surprise. Natasha had injected him with something.

 _"Oh god, are you going to steal my kidney and sell it?"_ Tony griped. _"What did she just do to me?"_

 _"What did we just do for you."_ Fury corrected. _"That's lithium dioxide, it's going to take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."_

 _"Give me a couple boxes of that and I'll be right as rain."_ Tony said.

 _"It's not a cure, just to base the symptoms."_ Natasha said.

Fury's voice was somber. _"Doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fix."_

 _"Trust me I know, I'm good at this stuff."_ Tony said, his voice hard. _"I have been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I have tried every combination, every permutation of known elements."_

 _"Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."_ Fury replied.

As the conversation was wrapping up, and Tony agreed to come back to the house, Izzy picked up one last conversation from the helmet as Clint walked off, taking a call from Coulson. She held the phone to her ear as she heard Natasha speak with Tony quietly.

 _"I know that you are sick."_ Natasha said carefully. _"But your daughter needs you too much for you to just check out the way that you did at the party."_

 _"I don't need you to tell me what my kid needs."_ Tony said, mistrust in his voice.

 _"Really? Is that why she recognized I was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent before you did?"_ Natasha said. _"Or is that why she came to me last night, crying for help because you weren't there to comfort her?"_

There was a painful silence following that comment.

 _"Isabel is strong Stark, but she is only nine years old."_ Natasha said. _"She lost you once, don't give up now and make her lose you again."_


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey all! Here is another chapter. I don't know how many people read this but if you do and you were one of the ones who didn't read chapter 14 you might want to go back and do that. I think some people got confused when I uploaded two chapters at once so I won't do that again.**

 **Enjoy this chapter and please read chapter 14 if you missed it. Review as always!**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Coulson arrived back at the house before Tony, Fury, and Natasha. He informed Clint that he was sending him to New Mexico to start organizing whatever was going on there currently. Izzy didn't ask, she would just hack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems later and look for herself.

"Well," Clint said kneeling on one knee in front of Izzy. "Looks like it's good bye again."

"We have to stop meeting in crisis like this." Izzy replied with a smile.

Clint laughed. "You're a good kid." He said. "You'll be okay. But if you ever need anything…"

Izzy smiled and quickly hugged him. "Stay safe okay?" She said.

He nodded and turned to depart, giving her a playful salute and a smile before he disappeared in one of the SUVs.

After he left, Izzy went down to the workshop to start cleaning things up leaving Coulson and the other agents upstairs. If they were going to have to start working on whatever Fury had, they were going to need the space.

"DUM-E, U, look alive!" Izzy said walking downstairs and touching her fingertips to the panel. "We need to get this place in order before dad comes back."

About ten minutes later, JARVIS alerted her to Tony's imminent arrival. Watching as Tony landed in the workshop, stepping out of the armor, there was a pause as the two regarded each other.

"Izzy," Tony started.

Without a second thought, she ran forward and jumped into his arms. He picked her up, holding her tightly as she cried into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry baby," He said rocking her back and forth. "I'm so sorry." When she calmed down a little, he knelt down so he could set her on her feet, and they could be eye level. "We're a team, you and me. I promise you I am never going to check out like that again."

Izzy nodded, brushing her hands against her eyes to wipe away the tears.

Tony kissed her face before hugging her close to his chest. He was feeling the guilt and weight of what he did to her and that was something that he would always regret.

After they had their moment, they went upstairs to talk with Fury. Tony ended up carrying Izzy upstairs, she wasn't ready to let go of him just yet and he was fine with letting her hold on like a koala, he owed her that much.

Izzy only let go so he could run upstairs and change his clothes since he was still in the suit from the party. She found Natasha on the balcony looking out at the ocean, briefly lost in thought.

"It's a pretty view." Izzy said walking up and peering over the top of the balcony.

"It is." Natasha said. "They don't have views like this in Russia."

Izzy looked up at her and took her hand. "Thank you." She said.

Natasha smiled. "For what?" She asked.

"For helping my dad." Izzy said. "I heard what you said to him. But also, because I know you were the one who rescued me on the boat."

Natasha smiled faintly. "Clint mentioned that you remembered some of it." She said.

"I remember you gave me candy on the helicopter." Izzy said.

"Yeah." Natasha said laughing lightly. "You were being very brave. Does your dad know?"

Izzy shook her head. "Do you want me to tell him?" She asked.

"No." Natasha said. "It's better that he not know right now. He needs to focus."

Coulson called Natasha over to discuss something so Izzy just stayed and looked out at the water. She really did love the ocean; she would never get tired of it.

Finally, Tony returned downstairs and went to sit in the very same chair on the balcony that Izzy had occupied earlier to talk with Fury. Izzy stayed in earshot but still continued to watch the water.

"That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Fury said.

"It was finished." Tony said confused. "It was finished. It was just never particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my…"

"No." Fury said. "Howard said the arc reactor was a stepping stone for something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was going to dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big. Something so big it was going to make the nuclear bomb look like a AAA battery."

"Just him?" Tony asked. "Or is Anton Vanko in on this too?"

"Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin." Fury said. "Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver they shipped his ass off to Siberia. He spent the next 20 years in a vodka fueled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in; the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

Tony swallowed and looked at Izzy, who was still looking at the water, very aware of his behaviors the last few months and the potential effects it had on her. "You told me I haven't tried everything yet." Tony said getting back on track. "What haven't I tried?"

Izzy took that moment to come over, sitting on the arm of the chair Tony was in.

"Well he said you were the only one with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Fury said referring to Howard.

"He said that?" Tony said in quiet disbelief.

"Mhmm." Fury acknowledged. "Are you that guy? Cause if you are then you can solve the riddle of your heart."

Tony shook his head.

Izzy and Fury could both see the doubt on his face.

"I don't know where you're getting your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan." Tony said quietly.

"What do you remember about your dad?" Fury asked.

Tony sighed in frustration. "He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me, he never even told me he liked me. So, it's a little tough for me to digest what you're telling me, that he said the whole future is riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that." He said. "You're talking about the man whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

Izzy stared at her father quietly. This was the most that she had ever heard him talk about Howard in front of her and it was kind of weird to learn all this information about a man that she had grown up hearing from everyone else that he was so great.

"That's not true." Fury said simply.

"Well then clearly you know my dad better than I did." Tony said leaning back in his chair.

Fury finished his glass of water. "As a matter of fact, I did." He said. "He was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D." As he spoke, two agents brought out a big metal trunk. "I got a 2 o'clock."

"What?" Tony said in surprise, standing as Fury did. "Wait, wait, wait. What's this?"

"Okay, you're good right?" Fury said. "You got this?"

Izzy immediately went to the case, ready to dive in to whatever was inside. She knelt down and started to open it.

"Got what?" Tony said. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to get."

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact." Fury said. "And you remember Agent Coulson, right?"

Fury started to walk away. "Oh, and Tony." He turned back. "Remember, I got my eye on you."

Izzy couldn't help it, she laughed before quickly clamping a hand over her mouth. She looked at Fury with wide eyes, half expecting him to be angry, but he favored her with a rare smile before leaving.

"We've disabled all communications." Natasha said. "No contact with the outside world. Good luck."

Izzy waved to Natasha as she left. Natasha smiled at her.

Tony watched them leave before turning to Coulson. "First thing, I need a little body work." He said. "I'll put in a little time in the lab, if you could send one of your goons to the Coffee Bean or on a Starbucks run that would be nice."

Izzy grinned, amused that he was still trying to push Coulson.

"I'm not here for that." Coulson said. "I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Super Nanny while you drool into the carpet."

Izzy's eyes widened as she stared at Coulson. _Okay, wow._

"I think I got it." Tony said.

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment." Coulson said as Izzy looked into the trunk.

"Hey Agent Coulson?" Izzy said looking up, causing him to turn back. "If someone does go out, can I please have a smoothie?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi all! This is probably the second longest chapter I've done for this. Hopefully this will be okay for a few days as I have a fresh wave of homework and school stuff to take care of. I'll try to update in a few days.**

 **As always please review and let me know!**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy sat on the floor of the workshop close to Tony, sipping on her smoothie while she looked through some of the old journals that Howard kept. They were using divide and conquer as their strategy towards documenting and digitizing all the notes that Howard had kept.

One of the things that they had found in the trunk were copies of the original Arc Reactor designs that had Howard Stark and Anton Vanko's names on it. They also found some old reel footage, so Tony had found the projector and had started the reel while they went through the rest of the trunk. Most of the footage was just of Howard's speech that was played at the Expo, but it was the goofs and the practice shots. There was one shot where a little Tony appeared, wanting to play. Howard snapped at him to put a building model back and Izzy could see a little of what Tony was talking about.

After a bit, Izzy ran out of things to do since Tony now had the last journal. She leaned against Tony's leg, drifting in and out of sleep as she listened with half an ear to the footage. She woke a little when Tony sat up a bit from his chair with a sigh, rubbing his face before he took a drink from his glass of iced tea.

"Tony."

The seriousness of the tone that Howard spoke in caused them both to freeze. Tony looked at the screen and Izzy opened her eyes to look up, though she didn't move. Howard was leaning against the table that held the Stark Expo model, the same one that sat in Tony's office at SI headquarters. His sleeves were rolled up, tie loosened, and he looked truly tired compared to the man that they had seen even just a few minutes ago on the footage.

"You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film." Howard said. He held out a hand to show the Expo. "I built this for you, and someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future." The camera panned over the model, showing different, specific pieces. "I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out, and when you do you will change the world. What is and what always will be my greatest creation…is you."

Howard offered one, brief, smile before the reel ran out and all you could hear for a moment was the film flapping loosely as it continued to spin. Tony reach up without thinking and shut it off.

Izzy looked up at Tony, unsure of how to describe the expression on his face.

…

They needed to get to the office at Stark Industries to see the model, so before long they were in a white Audi convertible driving down the highway along the scenic ocean side on the way to the headquarters. It wasn't hard to get past Coulson's perimeter, which was surprising.

Izzy looked up ahead and smiled. "Can we get some strawberries?" She called over the wind and the engine as she spotted the stand set up on the side of the road.

They pulled up quickly, dust being kicked up by the wheels. Izzy brushed a stray stand of hair out of her face, thankfully, Tony had thought ahead and tied her hair back.

"How much?" Tony asked.

"$6." The kind man replied.

Tony paused, he really didn't carry any spare money on him, Pepper always took care of handling the money side of it. He took off his watch, much to the man's surprise.

"No, that's too much." The man said.

"Take it, take it." Tony insisted.

The man did, and Izzy held out her hands for the box of strawberries.

"Are you Iron Man?" The man asked.

"Sometimes." Tony said as they started to pull away.

"We believe in you!" The man called after them.

When they finally reached Stark Industries, they had no issues getting inside, but the secretary in front of Pepper's office, which used to be Tony's office was not willing to let them pass right away.

Izzy finally sighed and dodged around her, running over to open the door. Of course, Tony had to go after her because the secretary couldn't touch her.

Pepper looked up at them as they walked through the door.

The secretary was flustered. "Ms. Potts, I'm sorry they refused to—"

Pepper held up a hand, indicating it was okay. She was on the phone with the representative from the military, trying to get them to return the suit that Rhodey had taken from the house. Neither of them had really talked to Pepper since the party and she was clearly still upset.

Izzy, carring the strawberries with her, went to sit down while Tony looked at his stuff in the corner, including the model of the Expo. She listened to Pepper argue that all the software and designs were still patented through Stark Industries and that the government had no right to take the property.

Tony and Izzy had thought about that and they had instilled too many failsafes for the government to really do anything. Like it or not, if something broke of the War Machine suit they would have to come back to Tony or Izzy.

"We'll talk about it at the Expo." Pepper said in frustration. "Will Tony Stark be there?" She glanced in his direction.

"Will I?" Tony asked as he came over to sit down.

"No, he will not." Pepper said while maintaining eye contact, indicating she was very much talking directly to him as well.

Izzy winced; Pepper was really mad. She munched on a strawberry quietly as Pepper hung up.

"You got a minute?" Tony asked.

"No." Pepper replied.

"Come on." Tony said. "30 seconds?"

Pepper looked at her watch. "29, 28…"

"I was driving over here." Tony said. "And I thought I was coming to apologize, but I'm not…"

"Oh, you didn't come to apologize?" Pepper said.

Izzy cringed. Bad move.

"That goes without saying." Tony said. "And I'm working on that, but I haven't been entirely upfront with you and I want to change that. Do you realize how short life is? And if I've never gotten to express—and by the way this is somewhat revelatory to me—I don't care, I mean I care, it would be nice but I'm not expecting you to…look here's what I'm trying to say—"

"Let me just stop you right there." Pepper cut him off. "Because if you use the word 'I' one more time, I may actually hurl something at your head. I am trying to run a company; do you have any idea what that entails?"

"Yes." Tony replied.

"People are relying on you to be Iron Man, and you disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat for it." Pepper said.

Tony met her gaze apologetically.

"I am trying to do a job that you were meant to do and save the company for your daughter." Pepper said glancing briefly at Izzy. The was a brief pause. "Did you bring me strawberries?"

Izzy quickly spoke before Tony could. "No, they are for me." She said. "I didn't want them to spoil in the car. Dad remembered your all—"

"Allergy." Tony finished. He had not remembered, and Pepper could tell. "This is progress Pepper; I knew there was a correlation between you and…"

"I need you—" Pepper started.

"I need you too—" Tony started.

"To leave." Pepper finished. "Now."

Izzy shrunk down in her chair. Tony's expression said it, he realized that he had screwed up, badly.

There was a knock on the door.

"Ms. Potts." Natasha, now acting as Natalie again, spoke up. Happy was waiting behind her with a suitcase.

Tony and Izzy looked back as Pepper looked up.

"Hi," Pepper said. "Come in."

"Wheels up in 25 minutes." Natasha said walking over to the desk, looking at Tony and Izzy. It didn't escape her notice the sad look on Izzy's face.

"Thank you." Pepper said.

"Anything else boss?" Happy said.

"No." Both Tony and Pepper said at once.

There was an awkward look exchanged. "I'll be just a minute." Pepper said to Happy.

Tony cleared his throat. "Are you blending in well here, Natalie?" If looks could kill Tony would be 10 feet underground right now. "Here at Stark Industries…your name is Natalie isn't it?" Natasha just turned away from him. "I thought you two didn't…get along?"

"No that's not so." Pepper said.

Considering the last thing Izzy saw of the two of them together, with Pepper yelling at Natasha, she would have loved to see what Natasha did to make her like her.

"It's just me you don't care for?" Tony said.

Pepper didn't reply.

"No?" Tony sighed. "Nothing?"

"Actually, while you're here perhaps you and Natalie could discuss the matter of your personal belongings." Pepper said indicating the pile in the corner.

"Absolutely." Natasha said.

Pepper walked out with Happy following her, pulling her luggage behind him.

"I'm surprised you could keep your mouth shut." Natasha said coldly once the door shut.

"Boy you're good." Tony said spinning to face her. "You are mind-blowingly good at this. How do you do it? You're a triple imposter, I've never seen anything like it. Is there anything true about you? Do you even speak Latin?"

Natasha said something in Latin as she walked past him.

"What did you just say?" Tony asked.

"It means you can drive yourself home, or I'll have you collected." Natasha said before she left.

"You're good!" Tony called after her as she slammed the door.

Izzy frowned. "Daddy…" She started.

"Come on." Tony said standing up.

As they walked towards the exit, Tony stopped and looked at the Expo model. Something caught his eye and he tilted his head to the side, staring at it.

Izzy stopped and looked at him before looking at the model.

After enlisting the help of a few surprised SI employees, they managed to break the model down into 4 pieces that would fit on the seat of the car. How they did not get pulled over driving with this massive model sticking up out of the convertible Izzy will never know.

Getting the pieces into the house and set up was then the tricky part, DUM-E and U were involved, it really wasn't a pretty sight, but finally it was all set up.

"JARVIS would you kindly bring up a digital wire frame?" Tony said. "I need a manipulatable projection."

Izzy waited impatiently for the scan. She had asked him the entire ride home what he had seen but he wouldn't say.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete Sir." JARVIS announced.

Tony lifted the projection up and into an open area. He stood it up on its side, so he could see the whole expo from a top angle. "JARVIS, how many buildings are there?" He asked.

"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?" JARVIS said sarcastically.

"That was rhetorical," Tony said. "Just show me."

Tony sat on a rolling chair in front of it and Izzy came over to stand next to him. "What does that look like to you?" He asked her. She tilted her head to the side, not seeing it. "Not unlike an atom?"

Her eyes widened as the pieces fell into place as she counted up the buildings. "Then the nucleus would be here." She said pointed at the image.

"Highlight the unisphere." Tony instructed JARVIS. He tilted his head, looking at it from a different angle. "Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."

"What is it you're trying to achieve Sir?" JARVIS asked.

"I'm discovering, correction, I'm rediscovering…a new element." Tony said. He moved his hands, knocking things out of the image. "Lose the landscaping and the shrubbery, trees, exits, entrances. Construct the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as the framework."

JARVIS complied, bringing all the pieces together. Once it was done, Izzy clapped her hands and held them out, the image complying and blowing up to a large-scale model. Her mouth dropped as she slowly turned around, looking at the model.

Tony sat silently for a long moment. He slowly turned in his chair with a thoughtful expression. "Dead for almost twenty years." He said. "And he's still taking me to school."

He smacked his hands together, bringing the image down to a size small enough to fit between his fingers.

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium." JARVIS said. "Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."

"Uh huh." Tony smiled. Izzy squealed in delight and Tony scooped her up, lifting her up high. "Get ready for a major remodel fellas! We're back in hardware mode."

They had a chance now.


	18. Chapter 18

**Quick note I need to address. I've been asked a lot about the Marvel Tv shows and if they will be a part of the story. The answer is, probably not. I have only seen about the first half of season 1 of Agents of SHIELD and none of the others. Right now I'm just sticking to the movies. I'm not saying never but I would not be able to do them justice currently and I don't want to do a half-assed job. Sorry if this is disappointing but I would rather omit it than do it poorly.**

 **Okay all! Biggest chapter yet. I'm thinking I'll wrap up Iron Man 2 in the next chapter if I do a long one, two chapters if I do normal size. Haven't decided which it'll be yet.**

 **Enjoy and please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

The heavy work Izzy really couldn't help with, but while Tony was knocking holes in the wall, she was working on rewiring major sections of the house, so they didn't blow the whole grid when they attempted to make the element. Tony made sure that she had sound proofing headphones on for most of the day. Whenever he needed her, he had JARVIS flash the lights in whatever room she was in to get her attention.

Tony sat with her on the floor, finishing up the final adjustments. This was always her favorite part of any project that they got absorbed into were the moments where they would sit side by side and either Tony would be teaching her something, or they would just work in silence, perfectly coordinated but with a peaceful silence between them.

Surprisingly, it didn't take them very long to get everything done. Rhodey once described to her like a manic state that took over when they got obsessed with working on something, they accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time.

Izzy sat on a table near the servers in the back while Tony finished setting up the coils, even though she wanted to help the coils were very heavy and Tony was actually being a responsible parent and keeping her out of harm's way. It was weird seeing the workshop turned into a small particle accelerator, but it was exciting, if this worked, they will have successfully created a new element!

Izzy was the first to notice Coulson come down the stairs. He placed his hand to the digital keypad to read his fingerprints and let him into the lab.

"I heard you broke perimeter." Coulson said.

"Yeah, that was like three years ago." Tony said. "Where you been?"

"I was doing some stuff." Coulson replied.

Tony shrugged. "Yeah? Well me too, and it worked." He said.

Coulson looked inside one of the crates, not acknowledging Tony's words.

"Hey, I'm playing for the home team Coulson." Tony said placing a level on the coil and frowning when it was uneven. "You gonna let me work or break my balls?"

"What's this doing here?" Coulson said taking out a shield looking thing with pieces missing.

Tony turned to look. "That's it." Tony said to Coulson's confusion. "Bring that to me!"

Coulson came over. "You know what this is?" He asked.

Izzy knew. It was a poor replica of Captain America's famed shield from the 40s.

"It's exactly what I need to make this work." Tony said taking it from Coulson. "Lift a coil. Go, put your knees in to it."

Coulson lifted a coil while Tony slid the shield underneath it. "Drop it." Tony said. He quickly put the level back on the coil. "Perfectly level. I'm busy, what do you want?"

"Nothing." Coulson said. "Goodbye. I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."

"Fantastic." Tony said blandly. "Land of Enchantment."

"So I'm told." Coulson said.

"Secret stuff?" Izzy asked.

"Something like that." Coulson replied.

Tony smiled.

"Good luck." Coulson said.

"Bye." Tony said shaking hands with Coulson.

"We need you." Coulson said.

"Yeah. More than you know." Tony replied.

Coulson shrugged. "Not that much." He said as he left, waving goodbye to Izzy.

Once he was gone, they were ready to begin. Tony put Izzy over by the computers, monitoring the levels and making sure all the settings were in correct. He placed the crystal in its chamber and came over to start it.

"Glasses on." He instructed Izzy as he put on his own protective glasses, shielding from the light as much as they were shielding in case of an explosion, which could very well happen.

Izzy put on her glasses and waited at the ready, putting her noise cancelling headphones on as well.

When it started, Izzy couldn't take her eyes off of it. As the beam of energy began to gain in power, Tony began to turn the crystal inside the accelerator, trying to channel the particles into the modified core. In hindsight, they should have moved it a little closer because the beam was slicing a neat line through everything along the wall as it went.

Finally, Tony cut the power at the accelerator and looked to see if it held. The light died down and the element was sitting in its spot with a steady blue glow. "That was easy…" He muttered quietly.

He ducked under a coil to walked closer, Izzy running over to see as well. Tony carefully pulled out the core with tweezers and held it up.

"Congratulations." JARVIS said. "You have created a new element."

Tony placed it in the new reactor. There was a brief delay before the reactor lit up as the power came on.

"Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core." JARVIS said. "I will begin running diagnostics."

It was a little too early to celebrate complete success because they needed to make sure that it was going to completely work, but Tony turned to Izzy who was trying to hold back her excitement.

"We did it!" She cried, unable to contain it any longer.

Tony laughed and hugged her tightly. "We did it." He agreed.

They had earned a much-needed break. They took showers, got into pajamas, made a quick dinner, and went back downstairs. Izzy turned on the feed from the Expo on one of the computers, so they could watch while they ate.

"DUM-E, U, can you clean up this mess?" Tony said. "You're killing me, you know I don't—"

He was cut off by a ring on the computer.

"Incoming call from a blocked number Sir." JARVIS said.

"Phone privileges reinstated." Tony said thoughtfully. He answered it. "Coulson, how's the land of enchantment?"

"Hey, Tony." The voice was far from being Coulson. "How you doing?"

Izzy froze, fork half way to her mouth with pasta on it. She knew that voice.

Vanko said something in Russian.

"What?" Tony asked just as shaken as she was to find out that Vanko was alive.

"You told me double seconds, good advice." Vanko said.

"You sound pretty spritely for a dead guy." Tony said.

"You too." Vanko said with a laugh.

Tony reached up and muted the call. "Trace it," Tony instructed JARVIS.

"Sir." JARVIS acknowledged and began his trace.

"Now the true history of Stark name can be written." Vanko said.

Tony looked at the screen. "Where is he?"

Izzy scooted her chair closer, so she could see what was being done.

"Accessing the Oracle grid." JARVIS said. It was slowly being narrowed down. "Eastern seaboard."

"What your father did to my family over 40 years," Vanko said. "I will do to you in 40 minutes."

"Sounds good. Let's get together and hash it out." Tony said trying to keep him on the phone.

"Tri-State area." JARVIS said. They were getting closer. "Manhattan in alpine burrow."

"I hope you're ready." Vanko said before he cut the line.

Tony looked at the screen as it cut out.

"Call trace incomplete." JARVIS said.

Izzy looked at the screen to her left. Her eyes widened. "Dad?" She said pointing to the article that announced Justin Hammer's 'In Defense of Peace' exhibition at the Expo. Vanko was going to attack the Expo, and Pepper was there.

Tony looked at the reactor sitting behind them. He pulled the reactor out of its holding cradle.

"Sir!" JARVIS protested.

"You wanna run test? Run them." Tony said as he took the palladium reactor out of his chest and replaced it with the new one. "And assemble the suit while you're at it. Put it together now."

"We are unclear as to the—"

"I don't want to hear it JARVIS!" Tony said as he coughed, the light of the reactor getting brighter. "That tastes like coconut…and metal."

Once he was in the suit, Tony looked at Izzy, who was still sitting at the computer in her pink Disney pajamas, hair in damp curls.

"I'll be fine go." Izzy said. "I'll call Pepper and Natasha and try to warn them."

"Try to reach Rhodey too if you can." Tony instructed. "JARVIS, lock everything down when I leave, no one gets in here."

"Yes Sir," JARVIS replied.

Izzy smiled as she watched him fly out, then turned to the computers seriously as she tried to get ahold of someone. She tried Pepper first, but it went to voicemail. She tried Natasha, but that went to voicemail as well. She tried Rhodey, but it went to voicemail. "You've got to be kidding me!" Izzy cried out as she brought up a different screen. "JARVIS where is the trace on the MARK II?"

"It would seem that the tracer places it at the Expo." JARVIS replied showing her the dot on the map.

Izzy sighed. "Somehow I don't think that's a good thing." She said. "Dad, Rhodey is at the Expo but I can't get ahold of him. Looks like the MARK II is there as well."

"Thanks kid." Tony said, the wind loud in the speakers. "Anything from Pepper?"

"Not yet." She said. "I'm gonna try Happy next."

Unsurprising, Happy didn't answer either.

The presentation from Hammer Tech Industries was starting, Izzy turned up the volume to listen while she tried to text Natasha, hoping she would reply.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way." Hammer said. "Then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach."

"For good reason asshole." Izzy muttered.

"Hey, language young lady." Tony said hearing her, though she could hear the smile in his voice.

"You were thinking it too." Izzy replied.

"…That's just too bad." Hammer was continuing on. "Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. Today my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink."

There were a few sparse laughs in the audience, but mostly silence.

"Oh, honey, no we did not like that at all." Izzy said wrinkling her nose.

Hammer cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States Military!" He said. "The Hammer drone!"

He waved his hand back as music began to play. "Army!" Drones rose out of the stage painted in Army colors. "Navy!" A group of aquatic looking drones rose up. "Air Force!" More drones. "Marines!" A final set of drones rose up while the music continued to play.

"That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you." Hammer said referencing Tony's entrance in the beginning. "But as revolutionary as this technology is there will always be a need for a man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype the variable threat response battle suit and its pilot, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes!"

Izzy's head shot up as she looked at the screen. At the front of the stage rose out the MARK II suit with several gaudy modifications made to it. Rhodey saluted, all the drones followed the salute, as did Hammer. Izzy was furious, Hammer was such a cheat trying to pass their design off as his.

"Dad, I found Rhodey." She said.

"I know, I'm almost there." Tony replied.

Hammer continued. "For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for—"

He was cut off by the sound of the thrusters from the MARK V heading in.

Tony landed on stage to a roar of applause from the audience. "We got trouble." Tony said walking up to Rhodey.

"Tony there are civilians present." Rhodey said. "I'm here on orders. Let's not do this right now."

"Give them a wave." Tony said putting a hand on Rhodey's shoulder and waving to the crowd as Hammer moved in front of them. "All these people are in danger. We gotta get them out of here. You gotta trust me for the next 5 minutes."

"I tried that," Rhodey said. "I got tossed around your house, remember?"

"Dad." Izzy said. "Something is wrong, I can't access the MARK II something has taken over."

Tony switched tactics. "I think he's working with Vanko." He said.

"Vanko's alive?" Rhodey said.

Tony stepped forward towards Hammer. "Where is he?" Tony demanded. "Where's Vanko?"

"Who?" Hammer asked.

"Tell me." Tony said firmly.

"What are you doing here man?" Hammer asked nervously.

Izzy noticed a flash of read on the readings for the MARK II. "Dad."

"Whoa, whoa." Rhodey said as the shoulder mounted gun aimed at Tony.

"Is that you?" Tony asked as alarms were blaring in his suit.

"No." Rhodey said. "I'm not doing that, it's not me. I can't move. I'm locked up, I'm locked up."

The drones aimed at Tony as well as the crowd started to take notice.

Izzy typed in some information. "Dad, Vanko has a remote access on the suit." She said. "I can't break past it."

"Get out of here! Go!" Rhodey yelled. "My whole system's been compromised."

Tony blasted up into the air as Hammer and the audience ran for cover. "Let's take it outside!" He said and flew off, followed by a wall of bullets.

The glass in the ceiling shattered, raining down on the terrified crowd.

Suddenly, the boosters on the MARK II and several of the drones were activated.

"Dad, they're coming after you." Izzy said.

"Izzy, JARVIS, break in." Tony said. "I need to own him."

"Yes sir." JARVIS said.

"What do you think we've been doing?" Izzy replied.

"Attitude." Tony said lightly. "Little lady I am still your father."

Izzy grinned. However, it was quickly wiped away as the remaining drones began to advance on the crowd. "Hey J, can you try Natasha or Pepper again?" She asked.

"Yes Miss." JARVIS said.

"Isabel," Pepper answered. "Now's not really—"

"Pepper! Thank goodness," Izzy said. "I need you to get to the tech station for Hammer Tech, I'm trying to get into their system, but I need a connection to make this run faster."

"Hold on." Pepper said.

Izzy could hear people talking in the background. She heard someone say, 'he slaved the system' and another say, 'he's locked us out of the mainframe'.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper demanded.

"Please, please go away." Hammer said. "I've got this handled."

"Have you now?" Pepper demanded, angry.

"Yes, I do!" Hammer said. "In fact, if your guy hadn't shown up this wouldn't be happening. Now please, go away! Thank you."

She heard Hammer say something about 'getting these bitches out of here', which he instantly regretted as Natasha twisted his arm up behind his back and slammed him against the table. She quickly got him to tell her that Vanko was at his facility.

"Pepper, I heard all that." Izzy said. "Call the police, I need to find another way in."

She disconnected before Pepper could ask anything else.

"How we doing?" Tony asked.

"Remote reboot unsuccessful." JARVIS replied.

"Natasha is heading to the facility where Vanko is." Izzy said. "Dad, he's locked us out, it'll take hours to hack in at this rate." She tensed as she saw the bots firing into the buildings. "They're going after the crowd."

Tony led the ones on his tail back towards the expo, the ones on the ground taking aim. Banking to his right at the last minute, Tony dodged the oncoming barrage, Rhodey following him and some of the drones in the sky took the fire instead.

Watching the activity, Izzy frowned as she saw one kid not moving, standing with an Iron Man mask on and toy gauntlets. One of the drones targeted him, only registering the mask.

Tony landed just behind the kid and blasted the drone with a repulsor shot, making the kid jump and looked up at the real suit.

"Nice work kid." Tony said and flew off as a woman yelled "Peter" in the background.

That was a close call, but they needed to think of something fast or there were going to be a lot of casualties.


	19. Chapter 19

**Here we are all! The end of Iron Man 2! This one took me a while, I apologize. Just quickly, I'm going to jump right in to Avengers, Chapter 20 is going to cover something that I want to establish for later, but it still fits in the timelines so no worries. It'll talk a little bit about Thor and Captain America as well.**

 **Enjoy! Please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy continued to work, trying to hack in past Vanko's security measures, but she wasn't making a lot of progress. It didn't help that listening to Rhodey constantly give Tony updates on where the gun being aimed at him was spiked her anxiety.

"Isabel." Natasha's voice cut through her nerves.

Izzy looked at the new contact on her line. "Natasha?" She met the agent's green eyes on the monitor.

"I'm rebooting Rhodey's system." Natasha said.

Izzy looked up. "What about Vanko?" She asked.

"He wasn't here." Natasha said tensely.

Izzy thought quickly. "After you reboot Rhodey's suit can you get me a direct line into that system if I talk you through what to do?" She asked.

"Sure thing." Natasha said calmly.

"Dad hang on." Izzy said. "Rhodey's suit is about to go offline for a minute."

Just then the reboot kicked in and Tony got a second to breathe as Rhodey plummeted out of the air.

"You got your best friend back." Natasha said.

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff." Tony said in slight awe of her.

"You're looking a little rebooted yourself." Natasha said.

"Yes, for the moment I'm not dying." Tony replied.

Pepper heard that from her connection at the Expo. "You're not dying?" She said. "You were dying?"

Izzy checked the line; she hadn't brought that connection up.

"Uh, no I'm not dying." Tony said just as surprised as Izzy. "Not anymore."

"What's going on?" Pepper asked wide-eyed.

Tony's voice was strained. "I was going to tell you—"

"You were going to tell me you really were dying?" Pepper cut him off getting angry.

"You didn't let me—"

"Why didn't you tell me that?" Pepper was gaining steam.

"Hey, save it for the honeymoon." Natasha interrupted. "You've got incoming Tony."

Izzy looked through the files as Natasha got her past the firewall. "Looks like the fight is coming to you." She said splitting her attention. "You might want to wake Rhodey up."

"Okay." Tony said. "Pepper?"

The strawberry blonde sighed. "Are you okay now?" Pepper asked.

"I am fine." He said. "Don't be mad, I will—"

Pepper interjected. "I am mad."

"Formally apologize when I am not fending off a Hammer-roid _attack_." Tony quipped, emphasizing his words.

"Fine." Pepper said begrudgingly.

"We could have been in Venice." Tony said.

"Oh please." Pepper muttered.

Izzy smiled. It was nice to see them quipping at each other again.

"Isabel did you know about this?" Pepper asked suddenly.

Izzy paused. "I am going to exercise my legal right not to say anything incriminating." She said.

Tony laughed at that and Natasha smiled. Pepper did not find it amusing but let it drop.

Izzy watched Rhodey's vitals return to normal as he woke up.

"Oh man." Rhodey muttered as he came to. "You can have your suit back."

Tony smiled. "You okay?" He asked helping Rhodey up.

"Yeah." Rhodey said. "Listen Tony, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Tony said.

"No, I should have trusted you." Rhodey said.

Tony replied. "I'm the one who put you in this position."

"No, it's your fault," Rhodey agreed. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"That's all I wanted." Tony said. "Partner? They're coming in hot, any second."

"Well we want to take the high ground." Rhodey said. "Let's put the biggest gun up on that ridge."

"Gotcha." Tony said.

They both started walking towards the ridge.

"Where do you want to be?" Tony asked.

"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked at the same time.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked. "You have a big gun; you aren't _the_ big gun."

Izzy rolled her eyes as they started bickering. "You guys are out of time." She said.

Watching through the eyes of the suits, Izzy watched the droids land and surround them. It was about 45 seconds of frenzied action and a lot of motor oil going everywhere.

"Rhodey get down!" Tony called using lasers from each gauntlet to cut the rest in half.

There was a long pause. "Maybe you should lead with that next time." Rhodey said.

"Sorry about that." Tony said. "I can only do it once. It's kind of a one off."

"Heads up." Natasha said. "You've got one more droid incoming. This one looks different. Repulsor signature is significantly higher."

Izzy scanned through the rest of the files that were coming through. "Uh oh." She said finding the schematics that were buried a little further down.

As she said that a new suit landed, this one piloted by Vanko. The helmet opened to reveal the smirking Russian, chewing on a tooth pick. "Good to be back." Vanko said.

"This ain't good." Rhodey said.

"I got something for this guy." Rhodey said. "I'm going to bust his bunker with the Ex-Wife."

Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"The what?" Tony asked.

Rhodey fired a rocket from his shoulder but it bounced right off.

Izzy sighed. "Hammer tech?" Tony asked.

"Yeah." Rhodey said with a sigh.

"We got this." Tony said targeting Vanko.

"I'm not sure what his suit is made of." Izzy said. "But these designs are for something really heavy."

The suit was heavy, the armor thick, it would be extremely hard to break open, and the much-improved palladium powered whips would prevent them from getting up close. Their main weapons weren't working against Vanko's suit, so they were having to spend a lot of time dodging the whips or getting thrown around by them. They would need something big.

Vanko got Tony around the neck with one whip and managed to knock Rhodey to the ground, stomping a foot down on him. Tony grabbed the whip holding him and pulled, getting him off Rhodey, but Vanko got the other whip around Rhodey and they were caught.

"Rhodes, I got an idea." Tony called. "You wanna be a hero?"

"What?" Rhodey asked confused.

Izzy furrowed her brow, leaning forward to look closer at the screen.

"I can really use a sidekick." Tony said. "Put your hand up!"

"This is your idea?" Rhodey asked seeing where he was going.

"Yep." Tony said simply.

"I'm ready." Rhodey said. "Go, go, go!"

Vanko didn't know what they were doing, but Izzy did. Her ears were still ringing from that explosion.

The repulsor beams connected right in front of Vanko, whose helmet was still retracted back, and they blew out the inside of the dome. There was silence as the systems came back online.

"Dad? Uncle Rhodey?" Izzy asked.

"We're okay." Tony said quietly, almost like he was afraid to disturb the silence that followed the explosion.

They moved over to Vanko, who was badly injured. The suit was charred and damaged, but the blast had caught Vanko's exposed upper body, burns blistering his skin and debris having created bloody holes.

"You lose." Vanko coughed, grinning as he died.

Tony and Rhodey paused, trying to understand his meaning until Vanko's suit and all of the drones inside began flashing red, beeping.

"All these drones are rigged to blow." Rhodey said. "We gotta get out of here man!"

"Pepper?" Tony said knowing there were still drones at the main expo location.

They both flew out of the dome in time, but Tony peeled off to get to Pepper. Izzy watched the blur of buildings go by before the display locked on to Pepper who had been waiting until the last of the people cleared out. Tony cut thrusters, landed, wrapped his arms around her, and took off again as the drones detonated. He flew her away to a safe distance, landing on a rooftop somewhere outside of the expo center.

"Oh my god I can't take this anymore." Pepper said pushing him away.

The feed on Tony's suit cut out because of damage to the helmet, but neither of them realized that Rhodey was on the same roof so Izzy just watched from there.

"I can't take this." Pepper said covering her face.

"You? Look at me!" Tony said.

"My body literally cannot handle the stress." Pepper said. "I never know if you're going to kill yourself or wreck the whole company!"

"I think I did okay!" Tony said.

"I quit; I'm resigning." Pepper said. She took a deep breath. "That's it."

Izzy's heart sank.

Tony paused. "What did you just say? You're done?" He said. "That's surprising—no it's not surprising. I get it. You don't have to make any excuses."

"I'm not making any excuses." Pepper said.

"Well you actually were just making an excuse." Tony said.

"I'm not making an excuse." Pepper said. "Because I'm actually vey justified—"

"You deserve better." Tony said taking her hand.

Izzy frowned. _No, that's not what you need to say!_ She thought.

"You've taken such good care of me, of Izzy." He said. "We've been in a tough spot and you got me through it."

"Thank you." Pepper said. "Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah." Tony said. "Let's talk clean up."

"I'll handle the transition." Pepper said.

Izzy tilted her head to the side as she watched them slowly moving closer to each other.

"What about the press?" Tony asked. "You've only had the job for a week…"

"Well with you it's like dog years." Pepper said. "It's like—"

Tony cut her off with a kiss.

"Yes!" Izzy cheered throwing her fists up in the air.

They pulled apart after a moment, staring into each other's eyes.

"Weird?" Tony said.

"No, it's not weird." Pepper said.

"It's okay right?" Tony said leaning forward for another kiss.

Rhodey decided to break the moment though. "I think it's weird."

Both turned to look at him quickly.

"You look like two seals fighting over a grape." Rhodey said.

"Uncle Rhodey!" Izzy cried out.

"I had just quit…" Pepper said.

"You don't have to do that." Rhodey said. "I heard the whole thing. So did Izzy—she's going nuts by the way."

"You should get lost." Tony said.

"I was here first." Rhodey replied. "Get a roof."

Tony laughed. "I thought you were out of one-liners." He said.

"That's the last one." Rhodey said. "By the way, my car got taken out in the explosion, I'm gonna need to hang on to the suit for a minute."

"Not okay." Tony replied. "Not okay with that."

"It wasn't a question." Rhodey stood up and flew away.

Izzy disconnected the feed and spun around in her chair. She smiled up at the ceiling, relieved that everything worked out, coming out almost better than before. She took a deep breath and just closed her eyes.

…

There was a lot of clean up after the Expo, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be handled. Fury wanted to meet with Tony about a week later, reasons unknown. Izzy insisted on coming too, Tony didn't mind.

As they were escorted in to the warehouse looking building, Izzy saw Natasha and raced over to say hi. Because it was impossible to be cold around her, Natasha smiled at Izzy and knelt. The spy was surprised when Izzy threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly, Natasha returned the hug hesitantly.

Tony came up to them and Natasha looked up at him, Izzy's cheek still pressed to hers. She schooled her expression and stood up, Izzy letting go. "You know one of the things that Izzy talked about for weeks after she was brought back from the kidnapping," Tony started, looking down at Izzy who looked back at him. "She always talked about a woman with fire red hair. She talked about how this woman was her hero."

Natasha averted her gaze for a second but then looked back at him, her expression neutral.

Tony held out his hand to her. "Thank you." He said.

Natasha let the surprise show for a moment. "For what?"

"I may not trust you, and for good reason." Tony said. "But I owe you a debt that I'll never be able to pay for saving my daughter. For that, thank you."

Natasha smiled faintly and shook his hand.

Before they could continue the conversation, an agent asked Tony to follow him to where Director Fury was going to meet him.

Izzy waved goodbye as they were taken to a different space. Natasha offered a brief wave as well.

They were directed to sit at a table in the middle of the room. The table had two folders sitting on top.

One said Avenger's Initiative.

Tony reached for that one, but Fury set his hand on it before he could open it. "I don't think I want you looking at that." Fury said. "I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore. Now this on the other hand," He lifted up the second folder. "Is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you. Read it."

Tony opened it up and Izzy read alongside him. "Personality review, Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior." He said. "In my defense that was last week."

Fury wasn't amused.

"Prone to self-destructive tendencies." Tony said. "I was dying. I mean, please, aren't we all?" He continued to read. "Textbook…narcissism?" He looked at Fury. "Agreed. Let's see, recruitment assessment for Avengers Initiative, Iron Man yes. I gotta think about it."

"Read on." Fury said.

"Tony Stark…not… _not_ recommended?" Tony frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you approve me, and yet not approve me?" Izzy took the folder from his hands and continued reading. "I got a new ticker. I'm trying to do right by Pepper and Izzy. I'm in a stable-ish relationship."

Fury came around the table and perched on the edge. "Which leads us to believe that for this juncture we'd only like to use you as a consultant." He said.

Tony looked at him for a minute before standing, holding out his hand for Fury to shake. "You can't afford me." He said with a smile before turning to leave.

Izzy didn't move, didn't even look up from the folder, because she knew he would turn back.

"Then again, I will wave my customary retainer for a small favor." Tony said. "Rhodey and I are being honored in Washington, and we need a presenter."

"I'll see what I can do." Fury said.

Izzy grinned as Fury walked away.

…

It was the greatest form of irony to have Senator Stern as the presenter at the ceremony. Izzy watched with Pepper from the audience as Stern spoke at the podium.

"It is my honor to be here today," Stern said. "To present these distinguished awards to Lt. Colonel James Rhodes and Mr. Tony Stark, who is of course a national treasure."

Izzy laughed at the pained expression on Stern's face as he said that. She couldn't hear what was being said as Stern pinned the medals to Rhodey's uniform and Tony's suit, but she cheered the loudest as they took the photo on stage.


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay so this is a super brief chapter. I wanted to establish a few things really quickly. I'll let you read and I'll have another note at the bottom.**

 **Note: Re-upload (much longer now)**

* * *

"It's one of the biggest announcements of the year." Izzy said excitedly, holding out the newspaper. "Now that everyone has stopped being angry about the Expo, people are starting to get really excited about the idea for a skyscraper fully sustained by clean energy. If—WHEN—we prove that this works, it's going to open up so many amazing possibilities to make life better for people all over the world."

Peggy Carter smiled at the excited ten-year-old. "You and your dad are doing such a good job sweetheart." She said. "I'm so proud of you both."

"I can't wait for it to be completed." Izzy said practically bouncing in her seat next to Peggy. They were snuggled up together on the sofa in Peggy's room. "You can be one of the first to see it!"

"I would love that." Peggy said.

Izzy smiled warmly at her. "Are you doing okay today Nanna?" She asked.

"I'm fine dear." Peggy said hugging Izzy close.

"Well, dad said to tell you that he and I will be back this weekend and we'll bring tons of flowers." Izzy said smiling. "Any requests for bouquets?"

Before she could reply, the nurse's aide came in to give Peggy her medicine for the afternoon. Izzy sat back and listened to the aide converse with Peggy for a minute. When Peggy had told them about the diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease, Tony and Izzy had been devastated. She had been like family to Tony growing up and once Izzy had been born it wasn't even a question who he turned to for help with how to raise a kid. She was the only grandmother that Izzy would ever know.

Once the aide left, someone else walked through the door. Sharon, Peggy's great-niece, was disconnecting a call as she walked in. "Sorry about that Aunt Peggy." Sharon said. "I had to take that call for work."

"That's alright." Peggy said understandingly.

Given the state of things after the announcement of Iron Man, it didn't seem like it was a big secret anymore that Sharon worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. Sharon had decided to follow in Peggy's footsteps and Peggy had been supportive, even if others in their family were hesitant about it. Izzy, who had figured it out long before she was told about it, thought that Sharon was well suited for the job; she was trusted enough to be a capable agent that whenever they were in DC at the same time Tony didn't mind Sharon taking Izzy out for the day, so she wasn't stuck in meetings. Though they wouldn't admit it, the security team was relieved when they didn't have to watch out for the 'little escape artist' as well.

"Alright Bel, you ready to go?" Sharon asked looking at Izzy. "We're supposed to meet your dad in an hour at the Triskelion and there's tons of traffic."

"Okay." Izzy stood up. She hugged Peggy tightly, Peggy returned the embrace and kissed her hair. "Bye Nanna, we'll see you this weekend okay?"

"Okay Bel." Peggy said.

Though she was Isabel to the rest of the world, Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper were the only ones allowed to call her Izzy, and Sharon and Peggy were the only ones that called her Bel.

Sharon and Izzy went out to the car and Izzy rolled down the window to look back, watching the nursing home get smaller as they drove away.

Izzy had sparse encounters with the Peggy Carter's family, most of them were iffy of Tony and by guilt of association Izzy, but Sharon had instantly been accepting and she had become like a big sister to Izzy. Sharon encouraged her creativity and to some degree her eccentricities, though she still tried to get Izzy to be a little more social with kids her own age. That just wasn't happening.

Once on the freeway, Izzy rolled the window up and Sharon turned up the radio, blasting the billboard top 100 at a probably unsafe volume, but it was fun. Yes, Izzy would always be a rock chick but who could resist belting out Lady Gaga?

They made good time with Sharon driving and Izzy watched the Triskelion come into view. The skyscraper that was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, though still under construction was quite a sight to behold.

 _I'm betting we can beat that._ Izzy thought to herself with a smile.

Once inside, Izzy skipped along beside Sharon, happily taking it all in. When they were almost to the elevator, someone called out to get Sharon's attention.

"Agent Sitwell." Sharon greeted professionally. "I'm sure you know Isabel Stark?"

Sitwell smiled at her. "We've not been formally introduced. It's nice to meet you." He said.

Her first instinct told her to be cautious with what she said around him. "Hello." She said shyly hiding against Sharon's side. With her hair shading her face, Izzy looked at the man critically.

Passing her behavior off as just child shyness, Sitwell turned to Sharon. "I need to borrow you for a minute. There was a discrepancy with your last report that needs attention." He said.

Sharon looked at Izzy, who turned her doe eyes up at her 'cousin'. "Let me get Isabel back to her father and I'll meet you to go over the report." She said.

"Mr. Stark is still in a meeting with Director Fury." Sitwell said. "They're going to be at least another hour."

With amazing timing, Izzy's phone chimed with a message. Looking at it, she turned the screen up to Sharon without a word showing the message from Tony confirming Sitwell's relayed message. Only it said two hours.

"Alright." Sharon sighed. "Come on Isabel."

Izzy started to follow, but Sitwell stopped them.

"No offense, but I'm fairly certain that Miss. Stark does not have the proper security clearance to hear the details of your mission." Sitwell said.

 _Offense taken._ Izzy thought with a sniff. She would just look for herself later.

The look Sharon gave her indicated that she knew Izzy would do just that now that she had been told no.

"I'm not leaving her out here." Sharon said. "I was assigned to keep her out of trouble."

"That's a tall order with this one."

Izzy looked towards the voice with excitement. "Clint!" She said and immediately ran over to her friend.

Clint laughed and easily hoisted her up, holding her with one arm as her arms wrapped around his neck. He looked up at Sharon and Sitwell, who were both surprised that they knew each other and were apparently close. "Agent Carter." He greeted.

"Agent Barton." Sharon replied.

"I can keep an eye on her so you can handle the report." Clint offered, obviously having overheard them talking. "We both know how this one gets with his deadlines."

Izzy found it interesting that Clint was taking jabs at the man when he was standing right there. Sitwell, for his part, didn't seem to know whether to be angry or just resigned to the remarks.

"Agent Barton, as for your report on New Mexico—"

"Don't get your briefs in a bunch Sitwell." Clint said. "You'll have it when it's ready."

Izzy snickered quietly, seeing a small vein in Sitwell's head become more prominent with his anger.

Sharon looked at Izzy to see her reaction to the offer. Izzy smiled and mouthed 'please' with big puppy dog eyes. "Alright. I'll come find you when it's finished." She said. "And Barton, keep your phone on."

"Yes ma'am." Clint said easily as he let Izzy back on her feet. He looked down at her. "Want some food?"

Izzy nodded, beaming up at him.

…

Though it was against usual safety protocols that Izzy was familiar with, Clint took her back outside of the Triskelion to walk to a food truck. Sharon would not be happy when she heard that he took her out of the building. But, apparently, this place had amazing street tacos.

Izzy adjusted the red Washington Nationals baseball cap that Clint had given her, similar to the black one that he wore, her ponytail pulled back through the loop. In big contrast to the circus that she was used to, it was nice to walk around without people staring and knowing exactly who you were.

Clint bought them both food, chatting with the truck owner in Spanish as they waited. She happened to catch him telling the man that she was his _hermana_ when he was asked.

"So, how was New Mexico?" She asked casually when they found a spot with some shade to eat their food.

He thought about it as he took a bite. "Thunderous." Clint commented cryptically and Izzy was immediately curious at the word choice.

"How did things go after the intervention?" Clint asked.

"Is that what we're calling it?" Izzy asked lightly and Clint grinned. She smiled faintly. "Better."

Clint nodded thoughtfully and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they finished their food.

Once back inside, Izzy got another message from Tony saying another hour. She half groaned but she was also delighted that she got to hang out with Clint more considering Sharon was still in her meeting with Sitwell.

Clint took her to the training areas to keep her occupied since he would get his wrist slapped if he took her to any place that had computers for her to directly access. Everyone had gotten a notice about protocol when Tony and Izzy were at the building. Not that it would really stop them if they wanted to access the system.

They talked about the weapons, Izzy knowing a great deal about them but obviously never having used them or dealt with them up close. One in particular caught her attention though.

"A bow?" She asked looking up at him. "Really?"

Clint grinned and pulled the weapon down. "Don't underestimate it." He said kneeling so they could be on a closer level. He held the bow between them so she could look at the advanced design.

"Wow, they demoted you down to babysitter." A voice said suddenly behind them. "How badly did you screw up in New Mexico?"

Clint stood, turning to face the voice. Izzy took one look at the man and hugged close to Clint's side, warning bells going off like crazy in her head.

"You're just jealous that I get cooler missions Rumlow." Clint replied easily but noticing how Izzy crowded close to him. She didn't cower away from anyone.

The man he called Rumlow was about to make another comment when suddenly Natasha appeared.

"Barton, Agent Carter has been trying to call you." She said without preamble, completely ignoring Rumlow as she stepped up on Izzy's other side. It was easy to miss, but Natasha was a good inch closer than she normally would be, but her stance put her between Izzy and Rumlow. "Apparently, Director Fury was called to New York for an emergency."

Clint glanced at his phone. "Oops." He said and placed the bow back in its holding place. He looked down at Izzy. "Looks like we gotta head back."

Izzy nodded, still eyeing Rumlow carefully.

Natasha joined them as they walked out of the training area heading for the elevators. Izzy glanced back quickly seeing that Rumlow was watching them, his expression unreadable.

"You okay kid?" Clint asked once they were inside the elevator.

Izzy blinked having been a little lost in her own head. "Yeah." She said quietly.

Neither agent asked her about why she had gotten so quiet around Rumlow, she wasn't sure she could even explain it, the guy just gave her bad vibes.

As they exited the elevator on the main floor, they all spotted Tony standing with Sharon talking quietly. Izzy started to move forward but stopped when she realized Clint and Natasha weren't following. She turned back.

"We'll leave you in good hands." Clint said. "We both have missions we need to prep for."

That surprised her. "You just got back from missions." She commented.

"It's the life of an agent kid." Clint replied.

"Okay." She said. "Be careful."

She gave both of them a hug and she went back to Tony. Clint and Natasha made sure that she reached her father before they left, offering a nod to Tony before disappearing into the crowd.

"Ready to go back?" Tony asked.

Izzy nodded feeling exhausted after the long day.

…

That night Izzy with laying on her stomach on the floor of the suite they were staying in at the Four Seasons. She was looking at her Starkpad with interest as she scanned through S.H.I.E.L.D. files, looking at what had happened in New Mexico. Thunderous indeed.

"What are you looking at kiddo?" Tony asked coming out of the bathroom after taking a shower. Pepper wasn't back yet from the last meeting of the day, so it was just the two of them hanging out.

"Looks like Coulson had fun in the Land of Enchantment." Izzy said looking at the screen. She looked up at him as he poured himself a glass of scotch. "Dad, can I have a suit too?"

Tony choked on his drink and turned to look at her in shock. "What?"

Izzy was about to repeat herself when her tablet beeped. She looked down to see which file had been flagged. "Oh my god…" She said pushing herself up to sit on her knees. "Dad, you aren't going to believe who they found in the arctic!"

* * *

 **Okay, some may like this some may not, but my thought was, from what I know about Peggy Carter she and Howard were close so it would make sense to me that she would have seen Tony grow up and he would have needed someone to turn to on how to raise Isabel. Sharon already knowing Izzy I think is going to help speed the story up later on as well. Let me know what you think, please review :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey all! We're finally in to Avengers! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, I will hopefully update in a couple days.**

 **As always please review :)**

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Stark Tower was completely dark. The recently finished building stood tall in the middle of the New York City skyline and it had been on the front page of most newspapers and websites, though most people paid very little attention to what was about they were about to test this evening.

Izzy stood on the top floor of the recently finished building, her tablet held ready in hand as Tony disconnected them from the main power grid and connected the arc reactor. Pepper was nearby, both of them waiting with bated breath for the moment that the lights came back on.

"Good to go on this end." Tony said. "The rest is up to you."

Izzy immediately set to work.

"You disconnected the transmission lines?" Pepper asked. "Are we off the grid?"

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy." Tony replied with a rather smug tone.

Pepper smiled. "Well assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works." She replied.

"I assume." Tony reminded her. "Izzy, light it up."

Izzy crossed her fingers and activated the power. She immediately heard the faint hum as the building came alive, the sounds building level by level as the lights came back on and the buildings power was restored. She whooped in excitement and high fived Pepper.

"How does it look?" Pepper asked Tony.

"Like Christmas." Tony said. "But with more me."

"We gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign, you need to do some press." Pepper said. "I'm in DC tomorrow working on the zoning for the next three buildings—"

"Pepper!" Izzy said looking at her.

"You're killing me. The moment." Tony reminded her. "Remember? Enjoy the moment."

"Well get in here and I will." Pepper replied while Izzy made a gagging face. Pepper lightly shoved her making the twelve-year-old giggle.

"Sir," JARVIS said. "Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line."

"I'm not in JARVIS." Tony said as he landed on the platform outside, spinning rims rising up to remove the suit as he walked in. "I'm actually out."

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting." JARVIS said.

"Grow a spine JARVIS." Tony said. "I got a date."

Pepper and Izzy were at one of the projector tables near the windows when he walked in. Izzy was adjusting the power distribution while Pepper watched the readouts.

"Levels are holding steady." Pepper said chewing on her lower lip. "I think."

"They are." Izzy said without looking up at them.

"Of course, they are." Tony said. "I was directly involved." Izzy gave him an affronted look, but Tony just grinned at her. He looked at Pepper. "Which brings me to my next question, how does it feel to be a genius?"

"Well, ha, I wouldn't know, would I?" Pepper asked smiling as she turned to face him, Tony's arms encircling her.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. He gestured around with one hand. "All of this came from you."

"No." Pepper said with a patient smile. "All of this came from that." She put her finger on the arc reactor glowing through his shirt.

Izzy took her tablet to continue monitoring the building and walked over to the sofas while they flirted, not wanting to be in the middle of it. She loved Pepper dearly, but she did not want to see the mushy stuff, at all.

"Give yourself some of the credit, please." Tony said putting his hands on her arms. "Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself 12% of the credit."

Izzy inhaled air sharply through her teeth. Bad move.

"12%?" Pepper said, smiling dropping.

"An argument could be made for 15%." Tony said casually.

Izzy dropped her head into her hands. _Oh my god._

"12% of my baby?" Pepper demanded walking away from Tony over to the sofas kneeling by the coffee table.

"Well I did do all the heavy lifting." Tony said following her. "Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, the security snafu, that was on you."

"Oh!" Pepper rolled her eyes as she took the Champaign bottle out of the ice to pour a glass.

"My private elevator—"

Pepper cut him off. "You mean our elevator?"

"It was teeming with sweaty workmen." Tony said. He knelt on the floor with her. "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

Pepper thought about it. "Not going to be that subtle." She replied with a smile.

"Tell you what." Tony said. "Next building is going to say _Potts_ on the tower."

"On the lease." Pepper said moving to clink their glasses together.

Tony hesitated, pulling his glass back. "Call your mom, can you bunk over?" Tony said jokingly.

Pepper laughed as Tony's phone beeped.

"Sir, the telephone." JARVIS said. "I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten."

Tony frowned as he picked up his phone, Izzy scooted forward on the sofa to listen.

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk." Coulson's voice could be heard. It was subtle but he sounded tense.  
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark." Tony said robotically, Izzy and Pepper laughing silently in the background. "Leave a message."

"It's urgent." Coulson said not falling for it.

"Then leave it urgently." Tony replied.

The elevator opened as he said that revealing Agent Coulson, looking very somber.

"Security breach." Tony said and looked at Pepper. "It's on you."

"Mr. Stark." Coulson said.

Izzy smiled from her perch on the sofa. "Phil!"

"Phil." Pepper said smiling warmly and she stood. "Come in."

"Phil?" Tony said quietly.

Coulson walked out of the elevator. "I can't stay." He said.

"Umm…his first name is Agent." Tony said following Pepper.

"Come on in." Pepper said ignoring Tony. "We're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay." Tony said through his teeth to Pepper with a fake smile towards Coulson.

Coulson held out a digital file for Tony. "We need you to look this over as soon as possible." He said.

Tony held up his hand that wasn't holding the champagne glass. "I don't like being handed things." Tony said.  
"That's fine because I love to be handed things." Pepper said. "So, let's trade."

She handed Coulson a Champaign glass while taking the file before she took Tony's glass, much to his shock, forcing him to take the file. Izzy walked over, instantly wanting to know what was in the file.

"Official consulting hours between 8:00am and 5:00pm every other Thursday." Tony said.

Izzy chuckled and took the file from his hands, walking over to the projection table by the windows.

"This isn't a consultation." Coulson said not commenting on the fact that a twelve-year-old just took a confidential S.H.I.E.L.D. file. He knew better by this point than to even pretend she wouldn't find out.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked. Coulson looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she back tracked with wide eyes. "Which I know nothing about."

Tony was looking at Coulson with an evaluating expression now, no longer joking. "The Avengers initiative was scrapped, I thought." He said moving over towards Izzy, his curiosity peaked.

"Plus, you didn't qualify." Izzy pointed out.

Tony flicked her ear lightly, she grinned at him.

"I didn't know that either." Pepper said.

Coulson smiled faintly as he watched the three of them.

"Yeah apparently I'm volatile," Tony said. "Self-obsessed, don't play well with others…"

Pepper shrugged her shoulders. "That I did know." She said.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." Coulson said.

"Whatever." Tony said dismissively. "Ms. Potts." He motioned with one finger for her to come over to the table without looking from the file. "Got a sec?"

Pepper smiled apologetically to Coulson. "Half a moment." She said and walked over to Tony.

Tony keyed in his security code for the file as Pepper came over. "You know, I thought we were having a moment." He said.

"I was having 12% of a moment." Pepper replied blandly.

Izzy stifled a laugh.

"This seems serious." Pepper said. "Phil's pretty shaken."

"How would you notice—why is he Phil?" Tony asked turning to her.

Izzy looked at the pictures that popped up on the screen, reading a bit of the information.

"What is all this?" Pepper asked curiously.

"This is…" Tony placed his hands on the profile, moving them up to open on the windows. "This…"

The videos of the Hulk in Harlem, Captain America from WWII, the attack in New Mexico played in front of them along with terabytes of data accompanying them. The three stared at the images for a long moment in stunned silence.

"I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight." Pepper said after a moment.

"Tomorrow." Tony said, but his eyes never left the files.

"You have homework." Pepper said. "You have a lot of homework."

Izzy ignored them as she moved around the table to get a closer look at some of the files. Her eyes were focused on the information about Clint and what had happened at the NASA facility. Pepper kissed Tony before she left with Coulson, the sound of them talking about Coulson's cellist girlfriend faded in to the background as Tony and Izzy dove in to looking at the information. One piece of information caught both of their attention. The thing stolen, the tesseract, the same thing that Howard had depicted in his notes about the element that the reactor was based on.

…

Because Tony was only supposed to be working on finding the tesseract, he decided that it would be okay to bring Izzy with him. Not that she would have stayed behind anyway, once she found out that Clint had been compromised by this Loki person, she was determined to help bring him back.

That was how she found herself among the crowd at a beautiful gala being held in Stuttgart, Germany, her eager but woefully inadequate security guard as her ever present shadow.

One of the guest speakers at the event was a German scientist named Heinrich Schafer. After reviewing the data files, they realized that what Selvig would need was iridium. Schafer was the easiest one to access with the needed element, therefore it would make sense that Barton would target him.

However, the one that they didn't expect to show up there was Loki himself.

Izzy saw the man stride down the stairs calmly, wearing a nice suit, as if he belonged there. However, it changed in an instant when he was approached by security. He flipped the staff in his hands and caved in one man's head with a well-placed strike before taking another out.

"Dad," Izzy said into her blue tooth ear piece as she moved behind a pillar when the man guarding her got caught in the fight. "Are you seeing this?" She watched as Loki tore up the Gala. He used the glowy stick of his to smack someone her security guard in the face, most likely an instant kill, and then got ahold of Schafer.

"I'm almost there." Tony said back through the earpiece. He did not sound happy at all that they had been caught unprepared while she was in the building.

He had been heading to where Schafer kept the iridium but had turned back the moment, JARVIS tagged Loki as being outside the event.

When Loki produced a small contraption to take Schafer's eye out, Izzy had to look away. The device was meant to pass optic scanners for someone who was a distance away, S.H.I.E.L.D. used them a lot, but it was supposed to be used on people who were no longer alive. She didn't think she would forget Schafer's screams any time soon. Izzy managed to get out of the way as the guests all began to run outside so as not to get caught in the crowd. Loki followed the crowd, his suit melting away into green leather and golden armor along with a gold helmet with giant horns. The mythology books really weren't that far off.

Despite Tony's strict orders not to, Izzy followed at a careful distance so she would watch what happened next.

As he walked across the street, Loki blasted a cop car, tipping it on end to pass by him harmlessly, and advanced on the crowd. He appeared all around the crowd as he made copies of himself, encircling them. As she stared at the scene from behind a marble pillar, she noticed some of the copies flicker, as if they were bad projections.

"Kneel." Loki said. When no one immediately complied, it angered him. "I said, KNEEL!" The crowd slowly dropped to their knees. Loki smiled as he held out his hands. "Is this not simpler, is this not your natural state?" Loki said. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity."

 _This guy is freaking nuts._ Izzy thought in horror. "Dad, hurry." She said.

"You were made to be ruled." Loki said. "In the end, you will always kneel."

As Loki finished his speech, an old man stood up from the crowd slowly and face Loki. "Not to men like you." He said in thickly accented English.

"There are no men like me." Loki replied with a bright and twisted smile.

The old man seemed sad. "There are always men like you." He replied.

Loki smiled. "Look to your elder people." He said. "Let him be the example."

"NO!" Izzy cried as she watched him aim the stick at the old man and fire.

However, a man in a very American looking suit with a shield jumped in front of the old man, deflecting the shot back at Loki, knocking him to the ground. Izzy stared in shock as Captain America stood up to address Loki.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi all! Another chapter. Not as long as the last one, I'm trying to make them fairly reasonable. I'm not overly pleased with the way I wrote this chapter so I won't be mad if you guys don't like it as well but this was the biggest hump I have been trying to get over so hopefully much smoother sailing from here on out.**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

"You know, the last time I was in Germany," Captain America said, standing up, voice ringing with authority. "And saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."

Izzy watched curiously as Captain America spoke, more people in the plaza rose to their feet.

"The soldier." Loki said in a snarl. "A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Captain America replied calmly.

Natasha, who was in a Quinjet, hovered overhead main gun aimed at the Asgardian. "Loki drop the weapon and stand down." She said over the PA system. Izzy looked up at the jet for a moment at hearing her voice.

Obviously, it wouldn't be that easy, Loki fired a shot at the jet, but Natasha piloted it to the side, avoiding the shot. As Loki was distracted, Captain America through his shield at Loki and engaged him in a fight as the crowd ran for cover. Izzy was careful to stay farther back but she couldn't take her eyes off the fight.

Captain America was powerful, but he was at a bit of a disadvantage facing Loki head on and as long as they were in close proximity Natasha couldn't fire on Loki from the jet.

"Agent Romanoff," Tony's voice came through the communications. "You miss me?"

Izzy let out a breath of relief hearing his voice.

AC/DC blasted over the hacked PA system, distracting both Loki and Captain America. Iron Man came out of the sky, blasting Loki with the repulsors, knocking him down against the stairs leading to the plaza. Tony aimed several rockets and lasers at Loki. "Make your move Reindeer Games." He said grimly.

Loki slowly held up his hands in surrender, the armor and helmet disappearing to just leave him in green and black leathers.

"Good move." Tony said lowering his hands.

Captain America walked up. "Mr. Stark." He said.

"Captain." Tony acknowledged brusquely.

Natasha landed the Quinjet and as Captain America put shackles on Loki, Tony having a weapon trained on him the entire time, Izzy ran down the marble steps and onto the jet.

"Hi Nat." Izzy said smiling.

"Isabel, what are you doing here?" Natasha asked in surprise as she turned around in her chair.

Izzy walked forward. "Dad and I are going to help find the tesseract thing." She said as she dropped into the copilot's chair. "Hey, can I fly this heading back?"

It was always funny to watch people get a little thrown off by the way that she tended to quickly change topics, even those that were very familiar with her personality sometimes got metaphorical whiplash from her quirkiness.

Natasha just smiled and shook her head in mild amusement.

Izzy turned in her seat to watch them bring Loki on board. She tried not to jump when Loki noticed her sitting there, the look in his eyes told her that he already knew who she was. If she had been old enough to bet, she would have wagered that he was banking on them being here to capture him.

"Sit down." Captain America ordered. He strapped Loki in, and they were finally able to leave.

Tony and Captain America, or Steve Rogers, moved to the front of the jet.

"You were supposed to wait until I told you it was time to come out." Tony said to Izzy.

"I didn't want to be in the building if he happened to hit it with his Staff of Ra." Izzy replied. "Plus, Captain America was there."

Steve looked at her in surprise. He seemed to be debating whether or not to ask a question. Again, if she had to bet, it was probably him being thrown by her age or the fact that there was a child here at all. She just turned back to the controls; Natasha was letting her practice her piloting skills once they got to a higher altitude.

As they were flying over a mountain range Fury contacted them. "Is he saying anything?"

"Not a word." Natasha said in a level voice as she guided Izzy to make a slight altitude adjustment.

"Just get him here." Fury replied. "We're low on time."

Natasha disconnected the transmission.

"I don't like it." Steve said looking back at Loki, who had been silent the whole trip, before he looked forward again.

"What?" Tony asked facing Loki, carefully appraising him, trying to solve the puzzle. "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being that easy." Steve said looking back. "This guy packs a wallop."

 _That's a throwback phrase._ Izzy thought with a roll of her eyes. Natasha saw and reached over to flick her arm in reprimand. Izzy smiled apologetically.

"Still you are pretty spry for an older fellow." Tony said and looked at Steve. "What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" Steve said.

"It's like calisthenics." Tony replied. "You might of missed a few things doing time as a…Capsicle."

Izzy looked at Natasha. That was much worse than what she had done. Natasha just shook her head and directed her back to paying attention to flying.

Steve didn't seem to appreciate the joke. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." He said icily.

"Yeah." Tony said dismissively. "There's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

As he said that, lightning lit up the sky and thunder cracked so loud they could feel the vibration in the jet.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha wondered aloud as she took back the controls from Izzy.

Steve and Tony looked up at the sky before Steve looked back and noticed the nervous expression on Loki's face. "What's the matter?" He asked. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki replied bleakly.

Steve and Tony exchanged a wary look. Izzy looked out at the sky, half knowing what was about to come if the files were correct.

Something hit the top of the jet with a bang causing everyone to jump.

Tony put his helmet back on and opened the bay doors walking forward.

"What are you doing?" Steve called.

Suddenly a man dressed in garb similar to Loki's, only with a red cap, silver armor, and a hammer, landed on the door. Izzy recognized him from the footage in New Mexico, Thor.

Tony raised a hand to blast him out of the jet, but Thor hit him with the hammer first, knocking him back and into Steve. Thor grabbed Loki and yanked him out of his seat, snapping the restraints in the process. With a hand holding Loki by the throat, Thor spun his hammer and they flew out of the jet.

Izzy and Natasha both just kind of stared after him in surprise. You really don't see that every day.

"Now there's that guy." Tony said standing up.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"That guys a friendly?" Steve asked standing up.

Tony's reply was curt. "Doesn't matter, if he frees Loki or kills him the tesseract is lost." He turned to fly out after them.

"Stark," Steve called over the roar of the wind. "We need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan." Tony replied. "Attack."

Tony blasted out of the jet and Izzy put her blue tooth earpiece in. Steve grabbed a parachute and began strapping it on.

"I'd sit this one out Cap." Natasha said looking back at him.

"I don't see how I can." Steve replied.

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods." Natasha said.

Steve replied. "There's only one god ma'am and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." With that, he grabbed his shield and dove out of the jet.

Izzy looked at Natasha. "Should we be worried?"

Natasha didn't reply just tried to not get the jet struck by lightning as she maneuvered back around in time to watch Tony knock Thor off the rocky ledge he had been standing on with Loki.

Crashing through the trees, they finally stopped and stood to regard one another.

"Do not touch me again." Thor warned.

"Then don't take my stuff." Tony quipped back.

Thor glowered at him. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." He warned.

Tony looked around. "Shakespeare in the park?" He spread his arms out. "Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" Izzy snickered.

"This is beyond you metal man." Thor warned. "Loki will face Asgardian justice!"

"He gives up the cube he's all yours." Tony said. "Until then, stay out of my way…tourist." As he muttered the last word, Tony turned away and didn't notice Thor throw his hammer, so it knocked him back several feet. "Okay." Tony sounded pissed. He raised his hands and blasted Thor back and flew forward to knee him in the chest sending the God of Thunder through a tree.

Thor stood and raised his hammer into the air calling down lightning before redirecting it at Tony. Alarms were going off like crazy on Izzy's phone coming from the suit.

"Power at 400% capacity." JARVIS informed them, voice a little distorted from the supercharged suit.

"How about that?" Tony said before returning fire and beginning a brief but intense battle.

The fight took them up the side of the mountain, Thor getting his face smashed against the rock but coming away with minimal injuries while he knocked Tony back and kicked off the side of the rock wall.

They crashed back into the clearing exchanging blows. Thor grabbed hold of Tony's arm and began to crush the gauntlet with one hand before Tony activated the repulsor to shoot Thor in the face. Tony headbutted Thor, knocking him back a step before Thor headbutted back and knocked Tony back several feet.

Tony flew forward and grabbed Thor's cape, swinging him around and taking out another tree. When Tony took another shot, Thor dodged and grabbed Tony, throwing him down on the ground hard.

Before Thor could bring Mjölnir down Tony activated the thrusters in the suit taking out Thor's legs and giving some distance between them. As Thor stood up, Tony connected a hit with his back sending Thor flying forward.

Izzy watched as Thor stood again Captain America's shield sailed in, connecting with both of their heads before ricocheting back into Steve's hand.

"That thing doesn't obey the laws of physics." Izzy commented as she moved closer to watch.

"Hey!" Steve yelled with righteous authority in his voice. "That's enough!"

He jumped down from his position on a fallen tree to stand on an equal level with Thor and Tony, each standing at a point of a triangle. He looked at Thor. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."

Thor growled out in frustration. "I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!"

"Then prove it!" Steve challenged. "Put the hammer down."

Izzy cringed as Tony spoke. "Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!" Said hammer collided with the chest plate of the suit as Thor knocked him aside.

The Demi-God had clearly lost all patience."You want me to put the hammer down?" He cried loudly jumping high into the air and bringing the hammer down towards Steve's head.

Steve raised the shield instantly, crouching down to brace for the blow. The minute Mjölnir connected with the vibranium shield, the resulting shockwave leveled a good mile of forest area.

Izzy and Natasha just stared at it in shock.

On the ground Tony stood, looking around, feeling the same shock.

Thor looked around, the blast having served like a good smack to the face, bringing him back to a calmer state of mind.

Steve looked between the two men. "Are we done here?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi all! OMG I have been busy. Sorry about the long wait for an update. Hope you guys like this chapter. Hopefully it won't be so long between updates.**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy held Tony's helmet in her hands as Natasha flew the Quinjet to the helicarrier. She ran her fingers over the dent that was caused by Thor's head. Her ears still buzzed from the bang and she was immensely curious about examining the properties of the shield, the hammer, and the thickness of Thor's skull. However, what bothered her most of all was that while Tony, Thor, and Steve were preoccupied, Loki had a chance to escape and he simply chose to sit and watch.

Although there was a truce, the ride to the helicarrier was bogged down by silence that no one, not even Tony, seemed willing to break. Once they docked everyone went in different directions.

As soon as the bay door opened on the Quinjet, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents swarmed onboard, surrounding Loki to take him away to a holding cell.

Coulson met them in the hanger and guided Tony away to an area where he could keep the Iron Man suit while Izzy went with Natasha to the bridge of the carrier. There was a conference table with office chairs around it near the back of the room, Natasha directed her to sit there while she checked in to make sure that Loki was transferred to his holding cell without issues.

Scanning the occupants of the room, Izzy recognized Jasper Sitwell and Maria Hill but that was about it. Taking out her phone, she casually turned in her chair, holding the phone in front of her to capture the information that Natasha had brought up on Clint. She scanned through the data from Germany for a moment before setting her phone down with a sigh.

Because, well she was 12, Izzy started spinning around in her chair out of boredom within a few minutes. There was so much energy between Germany and the battle on the way here only for them to have to sit on their hands the moment they arrive. As she completed another circle in the chair, she spotted a flash of purple causing her to stop her chair. So far, she hadn't seen anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. ever wear purple, so this was someone knew.

As the double vision from spinning around ceased, Izzy took in the sight of Bruce Banner walking meekly into the room. She knew a lot about his research with Gamma rays and she knew about the accident in the lab. After Tony was initially approached by Fury about the Avengers Initiative, Tony had to speak with General Thaddeus Ross after the Hulk smashed up New York. To be fair, Tony did warn Ross about replicating the super soldier program long before there was ever a Hulk. Dr. Banner definitely was not the only victim of the government trying to restart that program.

Bruce looked at her, finally noticing the kid in the room, and he seemed to instantly recognize her. She smiled at him. He tentatively smiled back moving over to the table.

Natasha came over to join them as Steve and Thor entered the room. Steve sat at the table as screens activated in front of them, tuning in to the conversation taking place between Loki and Fury.

Loki was locked in giant glass cage that looked too well designed for just common prisoner holdings; Fury stood on the other side of the glass, looking as severe as ever.

"Let me be clear," Fury said as he touched a few buttons on a nearby control stand. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…" The floor opened up underneath the cage, wind whistling through the speakers. "30,000ft, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant," He motioned to Loki and then back to the red button he was standing next to. "Boot."

Loki seemed amused. "It's an impressive cage." He admitted. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury replied.

"Oh, I've heard." Loki replied with a smile looking at the camera.

Izzy glanced at Bruce, who was studying the footage closely.

"A mindless beast," Loki said. "Makes play that he's still a man."

Natasha glanced at Bruce as well.

"How desperate are you?" Loki mused. "That you call on such lost creatures to defend you."

"How desperate am I?" Fury said walking forward. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun." Fury's tone darkened. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"It burns you to have come so close." Loki said mockingly. "To have the tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power. And for what?" He looked at the camera again. "A warm light for all mankind to share?" Izzy shivered feeling like he was looking right at her. "And then to be reminded what real power is."

Fury smirked faintly. "Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." He said as he left the room.

Even if no one was willing to talk about it, even Izzy could tell that Loki had gotten under his skin. The feed cut out abruptly.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said in forced lightness.

Izzy smiled, chuckling despite the cold she felt spreading in her chest.

"Loki's going to drag this out," Steve said. He looked up at their latest arrival. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army." Thor said staring into a void. "The Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return I suspect, for the tesseract."

"An army." Steve said. "From outer space."

"So, he's building another portal." Bruce realized. Izzy nodded she and Tony having already worked that out last night. "That's what he needs Eric Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor said.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce supplied.

Thor seemed troubled. "He's a friend."

Natasha spoke up. "Loki has him under some kind of spell." She looked down. "Along with one of ours."

Izzy bit her lower lip and nudged a little closer to Natasha.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak." Thor said. "Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed 80 people in two days." Natasha said.

"He's adopted." Thor replied.

Bruce pushed on past that. "I think it's about the mechanics." He said. "Iridium, what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony interjected as he walked in with Coulson.

While Tony finished his conversation with Coulson about flying Coulson to Portland to see his girlfriend, Izzy took over. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself." She said for Steve and Thor.

"Exactly." Tony said. He stopped by Thor. "No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He stood at the center of the room, where Fury would normally be. "That man is playing Galaga!" Everyone glanced over in surprise. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

Izzy watched Hill in amusement as she got increasingly annoyed watching Tony fiddle with the displays.

"How does Fury even see these?" Tony asked motioning to the split screens.

"He turns." Hill said flatly.

"That sounds exhausting." Tony muttered. He continued to move about the room. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily."

Izzy spoke, drawing their attention. "Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density." She was the only one that noticed Tony attach a small hacking device to the side of the console as she spoke. "Something to kick start the cube."

"When did you both become experts on thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked arms crossed.

"Last night." Tony replied looking up. "The packet, Selvig's notes—"  
"The extraction theory papers." Izzy supplied.

"Are we the only ones that did the reading?" Tony asked.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked seeming more than a little frustrated by the quips.

Bruce was pacing back and forth in thought. "He'd have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the cooling barrier."

"Unless Selvig has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect." Tony said walking towards Bruce.

With a wry smile, Bruce replied. "Well if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Someone who speaks English." Tony said in relief.

Steve seemed lost, and with good reason. "Is that what just happened?" He muttered.

"It's good to meet you Dr. Banner." Tony said shaking hands with him. "You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn in to a giant green rage monster."

That made Bruce squirm a bit. "Thanks." He muttered.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury said walking in. "I was hoping you and your daughter might join him."

Izzy nodding, kicking her legs idly, red converse high tops making slight squeaks when they scraped the metal. She noticed Steve watching her with an evaluating expression and she was half braced for him to start some righteous speech about not drawing children into the fight.

Instead, he surprised her. "Start with that stick of his." Steve said looking between the science group and Fury. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a H.Y.D.R.A. weapon."

"I don't know about that." Fury said. "But it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know in to his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor said. "I do not understand—"

"I do." Steve said.

Tony rolled his eyes, Izzy smiled patiently.

"Shall we play Doctor?" Tony asked turning to Bruce.

"This way." Bruce said motioning with one hand.

Izzy stood up and raced after them quickly already having a ton of questions for Bruce who seemed amused by her sudden hyper-verbal activity.

…

Once in the lab, they immediately set to work. Bruce was scanning the scepter while Tony and Izzy worked from different stations, monitoring readouts, and working off the tracking algorithm that Bruce had already started.

"The Gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the tesseract." Bruce said. "It's going to take weeks to process."

Izzy went over to Tony's station, watching him adjust a few things. "If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this in at around 600 teraflops." She said.

"All I packed was a toothbrush." Bruce joked.

Tony and Izzy both laughed. Izzy immediately adored Bruce, he appreciated her input and didn't use her age as a reason to disregard her. He had seemed genuinely interested in what she said from the beginning.

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower some time." Tony said walking over to where Bruce was. "Top 10 floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land."

"Thanks." Bruce said. "But the last time I was in New York I kind of broke Harlem."

"Well I promise a stress-free environment. No tension." Tony said picking up a small device. Izzy knew what he was going to do. "No surprises." As he said that he poked Bruce in the side giving him an electric shock.

"Ow!" Bruce said putting a hand to his side and looking at Tony.

Tony was looking for a sign of the Hulk, which wasn't a good idea, but Izzy was honestly curious as well.

"Hey!" Steve said walking in. "Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out." Tony replied and turned back to Bruce. "You really have got a lid on it haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

Bruce didn't seem upset, more amused by Tony's antics just shaking his head and going back to the screen.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked.

"Funny things are." Tony replied.

The good Captain was not amused. "Threatening the safety of everyone aboard this ship isn't funny." Steve said glancing at Bruce. "No offense Doctor."

"It's alright." Bruce said not in the least bit bothered. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." He gave Tony a brief glance half expecting something else.

"You're tiptoeing, big man." Tony said. "You need to strut."

"And you need to stay focused on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve said.

Tony pulled out a bag of blueberries from somewhere that Izzy didn't see. "You think I'm not?" Tony asked. "Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

Izzy walked over and jumped up on the table that the scepter was sitting on, positioned between Tony and Bruce.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked.

"He's a spy." Izzy said like it was obvious. "Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets."

Tony motioned towards Bruce. "It's bugging him too. Isn't it?" He said.

Putting him on the spot made Bruce uncomfortable. "Uh…I just want to finish my work here and—"  
"Doctor?" Steve asked.

Bruce sighed. "A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it." Steve said.

Bruce motioned to Tony. "Well, I think that was meant for you." Tony offered him blueberries. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it's still all over the news."

"Stark Tower?" Steve said. "That big ugly—" Tony and Izzy both looked at him. "—building in New York."

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source." Bruce said. He looked at Tony. "That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"That's just the prototype." Tony said with a shrug. He looked at Steve. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the tesseract project?" Bruce commented looking at Steve. "I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files." Tony said taking his phone out of his pocket to glance at the progress of the program.

Steve frowned. "I'm sorry, did you say…?"

"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge." Tony said unapologetically to Steve. "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." He held out the bag. "Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Steve said.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?" Izzy said. "Historically not awesome."

"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war," Steve said. "And if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following is not really my style." Tony replied.

Steve smiled, but it was one of distain. "And you're all about style, aren't you?"

Izzy narrowed her eyes.

"Of the people in this room," Tony said in a cool tone. "Which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"

Bruce spoke softly. "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

Izzy watched the internal struggle play out. Steve's face was a wall, but his blue eyes were definitely a window. In the end, the soldier won the argument.

"Just find the cube." Steve said and walked off.

Once the door closed behind Steve, Tony scoffed quietly. "That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" He said in disbelief going to his station. "Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

"The guy's not wrong about Loki." Bruce commented from his station. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit." Tony replied.

Izzy smiled. Now she wanted to go watch the Looney Toons. She jumped down from the table and went to her station in the lab.

"It's gonna blow up in his face." Tony continued. "I'm going to be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it." Bruce said sending some information to Tony.

"Uh-huh." Tony said. "Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

Bruce's warm expression closed off, turning sad, and a little angry as he spoke next. "See, I don't get a suit of armor." He replied. "I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

Izzy stopped her work to look at the good doctor.

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." Tony said walking over. He tapped on the arc reactor in his chest, visible beneath the Black Sabbath t-shirt. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a…terrible privilege."

"But you can control it." Bruce countered.

"Because I learned how." Tony said.

Shaking his head, Bruce looked down. "It's different." He said going back to his work.

Tony pushed all the information off the screen to get Bruce's attention.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident." Tony said. "That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So, you're saying that the Hulk—the other guy—saved my life?" Bruce asked. "That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out." Tony said.

Izzy watched them go back to work on their separate stations.

"You might not like that." Bruce said.

"You just might." Tony replied.

Izzy turned her gaze back to her console and resumed her work.


	24. Chapter 24

**Just a quick chapter to get in to the action a bit. Just a heads up, I do not hate Steve but we already see him clash with Tony and I can see him being annoyed by Izzy as well since she thinks a lot like Tony. Things get better though.**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

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Izzy had set up an alert when there was any activity around Loki, most of it had just been the occasional guard walking around. However, it caught her attention when she saw Natasha heading into the room. She put her ear piece in and listened to the exchange as she worked.

"There's not many people that can sneak up on me." Loki said in that silky voice that just made the hairs on the back of Izzy's neck stand on edge. He turned to look at Natasha.

"But you figured I'd come." Natasha said.

Loki smiled easily. "After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate." He replied.

Natasha raised her chin as she looked at the man. "I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton." She said.

Izzy swallowed.

"I'd say I've expanded his mind." Loki said.

Natasha didn't outwardly react, but Izzy knew better. "And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" Natasha asked stepping closer to the cage.

Loki tilted his head curiously. "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children." Natasha replied instantly. "I owe him a debt."

Loki motioned to her as he took a seat. "Tell me." He said lightly.

Natasha took a deep breath and sat in the chair that was positioned outside. "Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh…well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset." She said. "I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked curiously.

"Not let you out." Natasha replied with a wry smile.

Loki laughed leaning forward. "Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day." Natasha said unfazed. "I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was."

Loki gave her an evaluating look. "What is it you want?" He asked.

Natasha stood with a sigh. "It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out." She said.

"Can you?" Loki asked in a soft voice. "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paolo? The hospital fire?" Natasha's expression became more alarmed with every named incidence. "Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?" He stood, moving closer to the glass that separated them, voice rising in anger. "This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer…PATHETIC!"

Izzy had stopped working to just watch the monitor as he continued speaking, ignoring the warning band flash across the screen as the system recognized that it was being broken into.

"You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers." Loki's voice echoed in her ear. "You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!" Loki slammed his hand against the glass making Natasha flinch. Izzy barely managed to prevent herself from jumping. "I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

Natasha turned away from him, horrified. "You're a monster." She said in a soft whimper.

Loki grinned at his perceived victory. "No, you brought the monster." He said.

Natasha turned around at that, perfectly composed. "So, Banner…that's your play." She said.

"What?" Loki seemed shocked.

Izzy smiled as she realized what happened.

Natasha put a hand to her ear, speaking into a comm. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She turned back to Loki. "Thank you for your cooperation."

…

When Fury came into the lab, they were no longer working at their respective places. Tony was sitting on the workbench that held up the scepter, he and Bruce were looking at a screen, going through S.H.I.E.L.D. records. Izzy was sitting between him and Bruce, who was standing close by.

"What are you doing Mr. Stark?" Fury asked.

"Uh…kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony replied.

"You're supposed to be locating the tesseract." Fury said.

Bruce spoke up as Izzy grinned and jumped down from the table, walking past Fury to the back console where she had been working. "We are. The model is locked and we're sweeping for signatures now." He said as Fury glanced at her before looking back. Tony had a knowing smile on his face. "When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." Tony looked at the monitor in front of him. "What is Phase 2?"

Izzy noticed a furious Steve come in and drop a weapon on the table with a bang.

"Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons." Steve said meeting Fury's gaze before looking at Tony and Bruce. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

Fury immediately tried to lie. "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're…"

Izzy, who had been looking at the S.H.I.E.L.D. files from her spot, quickly sent the file to Tony's screen.

"I'm sorry Nick." Tony said turning the screen around. "What were you lying?"

The monitor showed very detailed plans of weapons created from the tesseract.

"I was wrong Director." Steve said. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Natasha and Thor walked in at that moment. Natasha was watching Bruce, but Bruce looked at her upset.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce demanded.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha asked.

Bruce laughed dryly. "I was in Calcutta; I was pretty well removed." He replied.

"Loki is manipulating you." Natasha said carefully.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce asked raising an eyebrow.

Natasha's voice stayed level. "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"And I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce replied. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him." Fury said pointing at Thor.

Thor looked shocked. "Me?"

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town." Fury said, voice rising in volume. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor replied.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat." Fury replied. He addressed the others in the room. "The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve demanded.

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Thor replied. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve said.

"You forced our hand," Fury said. "We had to come up with something—"

"A nuclear deterrent." Izzy said.

"Right, because that always calms everything down." Tony said.

Fury leveled a look at Izzy first, which made Tony bristle, and then turned his gaze on to Tony. "Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark?" He said.

Steve spoke. "I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep in—"  
"Wait, wait, hold on." Tony said. "How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve replied snidely.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said.

Fury turned to him. "Excuse me, do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" He demanded.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust." Thor said.

"Are you guys really that naïve?" Natasha said. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats."

"Captain America isn't a threat?" Bruce said.

"We all are." Natasha said.

Izzy watched them all, their voices overlapping and just becoming one loud hum to her. She squinted her eyes as a headache began throbbing behind her eyes. She could feel herself getting angry and she couldn't understand why, something was clouding her thoughts. This distracted her from seeing the light of the scepter glowing brighter the more they argued.

"You speak of control and yet you court chaos." Thor said.

"It's his M.O. isn't it?" Bruce said causing Fury to turn to him. "What are we, a team? No, no, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Fury said.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony said not helping the situation.

"You know damn well why." Steve said angrily. "Now back off."

Tony faced him. "Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." He said.

Steve goaded him further. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?" He asked.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony replied without missing a beat.

Izzy smiled and even Natasha had to give that to him.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve replied unimpressed. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"It's easier to just cut the wire." Izzy said.

Steve looked at her and then back at Tony, his smile tight. "Always a way out, that's what you taught her…you know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending that you're a hero." He said.

That struck a deep nerve with Tony. "A hero? Like you?" He demanded. "You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

Steve squared up to Tony, but Tony didn't move. "Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." He said.

Izzy froze, watching the two with dread.

Thor laughed suddenly. "You people are so petty. And tiny." He said.

That seemed to break something between Steve and Tony, Steve backed up slightly and Tony rubbed his eyes like he was coming out of a haze.

"Agent Romanoff, please escort Dr. Banner to—"

"Where?" Bruce interrupted Fury. "You rented my room."

Fury tried damage control. "The cell was just in case—"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't." Bruce said. "I know, I tried."

Everyone paused and looked at him. Izzy frowned, her heart breaking a little for this man.

"I got low." Bruce said softly, fidgeting as he noticed everyone's eyes on him. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit out." No one said anything as Bruce continued. "I moved on. I focused on helping people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

Izzy tensed, seeing him get angry. Even though Tony liked Bruce, and even though they had all been at odds a moment ago, the adults in the room subtly moved a little closer together, blocking an immediate path to Izzy cutting off her line of sight to Bruce.

"You want to know my secret Agent Romanoff?" Bruce said. "You want to know how I stay calm?"

Fury and Natasha put their hands on their guns, but Izzy couldn't see past them to see why. Tony turned his body slightly just in case he needed to grab her and get her out of the room.

"Dr. Banner." Steve said breaking through the thick silence. "Put down the scepter."

Izzy saw between Thor and Natasha, Bruce looking down at the scepter that was gripped tightly in his left hand, looking surprised to be holding it. Suddenly, the monitor in front of her beeped, making her jump. Everyone looked back towards the sound.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce said walking over.

Izzy jumped out of her seat and moved to the side so Bruce could get to the monitor and she stood by Thor, who placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, still watching Bruce warily.

"Oh my god." Bruce said in shock as he looked at the readings on the monitor.

As he said that an explosion echoed through the metal halls from a distant place, getting louder, until the room was blasted in.


	25. Chapter 25

**A new chapter! Yay! I am going to try to have another chapter up by end of Sunday but if not it might not be up until Wednesday night because I have another big test that I have to study for. Wish me luck! If I don't have it up until Wednesday it will be a long one to make up for it.**

 **As always please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

Izzy felt Thor grab her, twisting around, shielding her from the explosion as they were knocked back, but her world went dark for a minute from the blast. She came to milliseconds after they hit the ground hard. She looked up at Thor, ears ringing, and he was looking at her with concern.

"Izzy!" Tony yelled from the other side where he and Steve had been thrown.

"I'm good!" She called quickly, coughing on smoke.

"Put on the suit." Steve suggested.

Tony got up with him. "Yep." He said. "Thor!"

"I will take her somewhere safe." Thor said standing with Izzy.

"Be careful!" Izzy called as they ran off.

After they left the room, Izzy heard a very distinct roar that she recalled from the footage in the file. Thor was going to take her to the med bay for safety, but she stopped him, she could handle getting there on her own. If the Hulk was out, then Thor was going to be their only hope of controlling him in the helicarrier.

Thor looked at her with hesitation but nodded his consent and went to help. Izzy leaned against the wall for a second as agents ran past her. Though her head was pounding, and she probably should go to med, her next steps were to the bridge. She found Fury and Hill giving orders, there was some confusion about getting the turbines up.

"Let me get on a console." Izzy said. "I can work on the statistics in here while dad does the repairs outside."  
Hill seemed appalled by the idea of having a 12-year-old on the bridge in the middle of a crisis, but Fury agreed and they gave her a station to work at, but close enough for one of them to be able to monitor her.

"Dad, what do you need from me in here?" Izzy asked into her earpiece.

"Why are you on the bridge?" Tony replied.

"If you think I'm just waiting around you have a few screws loose." Izzy replied. "Tell me what you need."

"Stand by." Tony said, voice frustrated.

Fury looked at the Helmsman. "Bring the carrier inward and head south. Take us to the water." He ordered.

"Why water?" The Helmsman asked. "Navigation recalibrated after the engine failure."

"Is the sun coming up?" Fury asked.

"Yes sir." The helmsman replied.

"Then put it on the left!" Fury said. "Get us over water. One more turbine goes down and we drop."

Izzy heard Steve say that he had reached the downed engine. Tony was there already.

"I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Tony instructed Steve as he pulled on the rotors, trying to assess damage. After a second, he called out. "What's it look like in there?"

"It seems to run on some form of electricity." Steve replied.

"Well you're not wrong." Tony said.

Izzy smiled faintly. "Don't worry Cap, I'll walk you through it." She said over the comm.

As she guided Steve through what to look for and she listened to his responses, she also monitored where the Hulk was in the carrier. If he got too close to any of the turbines than they could have a serious problem.

"It all sounds good." Izzy said as Steve finished talking.

"What's our next move?" Steve asked.

"Even if I clear the rotors this thing won't re-engage without a jump." Tony said. Izzy felt her stomach drop. "I'm going to have to get in there and push."

"If that thing gets up to speed, you'll be shredded." Steve said.

"Then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage mag—"

"Speak English." Steve said cutting Tony off.

There was a pause. "See that red lever?" Tony said. "It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word."

Thor's battle with Hulk was starting to take over a greater area of the carrier. Fury and Hill were monitoring it as well.

"We need a full evac of the lower hanger bay." Fury said to Hill.

Hill nodded and moved to take care of it but suddenly yelled out. "Grenade!" She called but not quite in time as she was blown backwards, and several others were injured that were closer to the explosion.

Izzy screamed in shock but thankfully she was farther from the bang and was uninjured. She looked up at Fury with wide eyes.

"Get down." He instructed her.

She did but stayed near the console just in case. She watched as Fury went to the doorway, standing to the side, waiting for something.

Men in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear came in with weapons drawn but Fury was ready for them. He took out three and Hill shot the fourth one.

Sitwell broadcasted the new information. "We got perimeter breach! Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. Hold on to every junction."

More soldiers were attacked at the door, Izzy had her hands over her ears to protect them from the noise of the gunfire, but she could hear Sitwell's next statement.

"Sir, the Hulk and Thor are in shuttle levels, 2, 3, and 4!" Sitwell called.

Hill killed another man trying to come through the door. "Sir, the Hulk is going to tear this place apart!" She said.

"Get his attention." Fury said.

Hill talked in to her earpiece. "Escort 606, procedure to wishbone and engage hostile." She said. "Don't get too close."

Izzy winced. This is what Bruce was afraid of, it's what they were all afraid of, but she had read all the data that they had on the Hulk, one fighter jet was not going to do the trick.

Looking at her monitor, she could see that some of the hostiles had gone to the downed turbine and were going to try and permanently cripple the carrier. Steve seemed to be handling it so far.

"Something doesn't add up." Izzy said quietly as another wave of men tried to breach the bridge. She looked around for the vents and she saw it. The arrow. "Clint!"

She briefly met the eyes of the man that she called her friend. She only saw a blank expression with pale blue, almost inhuman looking, eyes. It was the scepter's hold on him.

He loosed an arrow and it connected with the console, taking out their power systems. He was gone by the time Fury got a shot off in his direction.

The carrier pitched dangerously to one side. Izzy grabbed on to her chair, trying to keep from sliding away from the console.

"Sir, we've lost all power in engine 1." Sitwell said.

"It's Barton." Fury said over comms. "He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?"

"This is Agent Romanoff." Natasha's voice came over comms. "I copy."

"Stark, we're losing altitude." Fury said.

"Yeah, I noticed." Tony replied.

Izzy overrode a few controls on her end, trying to get the systems to reboot faster. "Dad, we'll have power back in 60 seconds, but we might not be able to correct if you can't get 3 back up now." She said.

Alarms were going off everywhere, but something caught Fury's eye and he left the bridge. Izzy was focused on where engine 3 was, they were starting to correct as the turbine got up to speed. She couldn't see Steve anymore on any monitor though.

"Cap, I need the lever." Tony said, voice tense.

"I need a minute here!" Steve said, wind rushing into the comm, creating a lot of static.

"Lever." Tony said. "Now!"

Too late, the rotors were going too fast. Tony got sucked in and under them.

"Dad!" Izzy said trying to see if she could gain control of the polarity from her system.

However, Steve finally got to the lever and pulled it, having climbed back up a cable while taking fire. Tony was able to get out of the engine and flew in, tackling the hostile that was firing at Steve. Izzy sighed in relief before taking stock of everything else.

In all the commotion, Loki and most of the hostiles got away.

"Agent Coulson is down." Fury said over the comms.

Izzy's head snapped up. "Paramedics are on their way." She said checking the console.

"They're already here." Fury said. "They called it."

Izzy placed a hand over her mouth, tears beginning to stream down her face.


	26. Chapter 26

**Okay, here is another chapter. This will probably be the last one until Wednesday cause I really need to study. I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

* * *

As soon as Tony and Steve walked on to the bridge, Izzy separated away from Hill and raced up, launching herself against Tony. He wrapped his arms around her tightly without a word, returning the embrace, she felt the reactor press against her sternum. Stepping back after a second, he held her at arm's length, cupping her face as he looked her over, making sure she wasn't injured. Finding no noticeable injuries, he placed a kiss on top of her head and hugged her again, their arms tightened around each other.

As they separated and moved to the table, Izzy noticed Steve watching them, his blue eyes somber as he took in her bruised and grease stained appearance. Catching sight of herself in the reflection from one of the blackened monitors, she saw locks of hair had come free of her braid and she looked as if she had been under a car all day.

Moving to the conference table to sit facing Tony, she reached out and held onto his hand with hers. He stared down at her hand gripped in his, his eyes distant.

"These were in Coulson's jacket." Fury said holding a stack of cards. "Guess he never did get you to sign them." He tossed them in Steve's direction, the blood-stained cards sticking to the table top. They were vintage Captain America trading cards.

Steve reached out and picked one of the cards up, staring at it quietly.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor." Fury said. "I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." He paused for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he sighed. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." He looked at them. "There was an idea, Stark knows this, called THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could." Fury gripped the back of a chair, voice softening. "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony stood up suddenly and walked out. Izzy looked after him and slowly rose to follow him.

"Well, it's an old-fashioned idea." She heard Fury say as she walked out.

She found Tony in the room where Loki had been contained. He was looking at the space that used to hold the cell, nearby was the blood stain from where Coulson had been after Loki ran him through with the Scepter. She walked up and took his hand in hers. He squeezed her fingers gently but didn't speak.

Steve walked in and leaned against the wall a little further away. "Was he married?" He asked.

"No." Tony said. He shook his head. "There was a uh…cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry." Steve said. "He seemed like a good man."

Izzy looked up at her father as he scoffed. "He was an idiot." Tony replied.

Steve looked up. "Why? For believing?" He asked.

"For taking on Loki alone." Tony said looking at him.

"He was doing his job." Steve replied quietly.

"He was out of his league." Tony said moving away from the center of the room, Izzy following as he still had her hand grasped in his. "He should have waited. He should have…"  
Steve's response was gentle. "Sometimes there isn't a way-out, Tony."

"Right." Tony said, defenses rising by the second, turning away. "How did that work out for him?"

"Is this the first time that you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked

Tony rounded on him quickly, Izzy's hand slipping from his. "We are not soldiers!" He said sharply.

Steve looked at him with an even expression, unmoved by the anger directed at him, empathetic to it.

Tony paused, pushing down his own emotions. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife." He said in a calmer tone.

"Neither am I." Steve said. "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we could put together a list…"

As Steve spoke, Izzy was staring at the blood stain on the wall, her mind racing. Suddenly, she pulled on Tony's hand. "He made it personal." She said looking up at him.

Tony's eyes widened slightly as he saw where she was going.

"That's not the point." Steve said.

"That is the point." Tony said looking at him. "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart." Steve said.

Tony shook his head. "Divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win right?" Tony said thoughtfully. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us; he wants to be seen doing it."

"He wants an audience." Izzy said quietly.

"Right." Steve said. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night." Tony said getting more energetic as his mind worked faster as he talked. "Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..."

It hit Izzy the same moment it hit Tony.

"Sonofabitch." Tony said heading out quickly with Izzy and Steve following.

Loki was going to use Stark Tower.

While Steve went to get Natasha, Izzy helped Tony with the necessary repairs on the suit to get him back to New York. There was a new model of the suit waiting at the Tower, but he just had to get there first and hope that he could get it deployed before running in to Loki.

As they finished up, Steve entered the hanger with Natasha, and a now cured of mind control Clint.

Izzy's eyes landed on him and she raced over ignoring the tense looks and worried whispers that followed. "Clint, you're back." She said wrapping her arms around his neck as he dropped to one knee.

"Hey kid." Clint said returning the hug, seeming tired but relieved that she wasn't afraid of him. She looked into his eyes and smiled seeing the clear blue had returned.

Natasha smiled as she watched the two. Steve looked at Tony, but he didn't even flinch, trusting Izzy's judgement that Barton was now safe.

"Izzy." Tony said as he walked over. "You stay here on the carrier."

She whipped around. "But—"

"No." Tony said firmly, that very rare dad voice seeping in. "No debates, it's going to too dangerous, especially if we can't stop them from opening the portal."

Clint spoke quietly. "He's right." She turned her gaze back to him. "Loki will make you a priority target. We can't focus on the fight if we have to worry about protecting you."

Izzy frowned but nodded. "Be careful." She said to all of them.

As they were heading out, Izzy ran back to the bridge, dodging S.H.I.E.L.D. agents quickly. As she reached the bridge, Fury and Hill were standing by one of the big windows.

"Get our communications back up. Whatever you have to do." Fury said. "I want eyes on everything."

"Yes, sir." Hill said.

"I can help." Izzy said coming up to them.

Fury looked at her, she met his gaze fearlessly. "Alright." He said. "Hill, get her set up."

While getting to work on the helicarrier, Izzy had her earpiece tuned in to Tony as he arrived at New York.

"Sir," She heard JARVIS saying to him. "I turned off the arc reactor. The device is already self-sustaining."

"Shut it down Dr. Selvig." Tony said.

Izzy pulled out her phone and set it on the console, so she could see through Tony's helmet while she worked on restoring S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems. Tony was near the top of the tower, Selvig had rigged up some crazy contraption with the cube at the center of it.

"It's too late." Selvig said, the same look to his eyes that Clint had while being controlled. "He can't stop now. He wants to show us something. A new universe."

"Okay." Tony said flatly, annoyed. He aimed and fired at the cube but the repulsor blast was absorbed and redirected back at Tony.

"The barrier is pure energy." JARVIS said. "It's unbreachable."

"Yeah I got that." Tony said going down to the spinning rims.

Izzy saw Loki was already there, watching Tony with an amused expression.

"Sir, the MARK VII is not ready to be deployed." JARVIS advised.

"Skip the spinning rims." Tony said. "We're on the clock."

Izzy pulled up the camera and audio systems from the tower on her phone as she made some adjustments on her console, bringing back satellite imaging.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki said mockingly.

"No, I'm planning to threaten you." Tony replied lightly, appearing calm despite the danger.

The demi-god was amused, gesturing to the spinning rims outside with the scepter. "You should have left your armor on for that." Loki said.

Tony smirked. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the Glow Stick of Destiny there." He said. "Would you like a drink?"

Loki smiled. "Stalling me won't change anything." He said.

"No, no, no! Threatening." Tony said. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

Glancing out the window at the New York skyline, Loki was calm and confident. "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that." He said turning back to Tony. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Tony said.

Loki furrowed his brow.

"That's what we call ourselves." Tony said rolling his eyes. "Sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"Yes, I've met them." Loki said with a smirk.

Tony smiled. "Yeah, it takes us awhile to get any traction. I'll give you that." He said. "But let's do a headcount here. Your brother, the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend that kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki replied with a smile.

"Not a great plan." Tony said after taking a drink of his scotch. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

As he spoke to Loki, he was looking at something else. Izzy knew that was where the tracking bracelets were for the MARK VII. Why they were behind the bar or when they got there, she wasn't really sure.

"I have an army." Loki said.

"We have a Hulk." Tony replied.

"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki said.

"You're missing the point." Tony said exasperated. "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top." He moved around the bar. "Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

Izzy's breath hitched as she watched Loki walk closer to Tony.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're too busy fighting you?" Loki said. He tapped the scepter to Tony's chest, but it met the arc reactor and didn't work. He frowned and tried again, but nothing. "This usually works."

"Well, performance issues," Tony shrugged. "Not uncommon. One in five."

Loki caught him by the throat and threw him to the side.

Izzy winced as she watched.

"JARVIS." Tony said quietly, standing. "Any time now."

Loki grabbed him by the throat again. "You will all fall before me." He said.

"Deploy!" Tony said right before he was tossed out the window.

"Dad!" Izzy cried in horror as he started to free fall towards the ground.

The MARK VII deployed, racing after Tony, locking on to the tracking bracelets. The suit engulfed him, activating before he hit the ground and he flew back up to the top floor where Loki was.

"And there was one other person you pissed off." Tony said as he hovered outside the window. "His name was Phil."

Loki raised his scepter, but Tony fired first putting Loki on his ass.

Izzy made a few more adjustments and the rest of the carrier's systems came back on line. "We have eyes and ears." She called back to Fury.

It was just in time too. The portal opened above New York and an alien army spilled out.

"Right." Tony said looking up. "Army."

Tony took out several but there were so many that spilled out of the portal, he wasn't even making a dent.

Izzy noticed on the Tower monitors that Thor had made it to the fight. He was confronting Loki on the top balcony of the Tower.

The Quinject picked that moment to arrive as well. Now they were only missing one.

"Stark, we're heading north east." Natasha said.

"What, did you guys stop for drive-thru?" Tony asked. "Swing up Park, I'll lay them out for you."

Clint, who was flying the jet turned down a street. Natasha opened fire, taking out the Chitauri that were following Tony.

"Sir," JARVIS said. "We have more incoming."

"Let's keep them occupied." Tony said.

Izzy kept an eye on the hostiles, letting Tony know when they were getting too far, trying to keep them as contained as they possibly could.

As the fighting continued, more Chitauri, including a Leviathan continued to come through the portal.

"Stark." Steve said. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing." Tony said. "Still working on believing. Where's Banner? He shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve said.

"Just keep me posted." Tony said. He turned his attention back to the Leviathan, flying alongside it. "JARVIS, find me a soft spot."

There was chaos going on everywhere. One thing Izzy was watching was the match between Thor and Loki. There was something about Loki that was just not clicking for her. He almost seemed to regret the chaos.

Natasha and Clint were next to each other taking out Chitauri while Steve helped civilians below them.

"It's just like Budapest all over again." Natasha called to Clint.

Clint paused but continued to fire arrows at the alien hoard. "You and I remember Budapest very differently." He replied.

That was a story for another time.

Tony fired off some flares in the face of the Leviathan, which roared in annoyance and chased after Tony. "We got his attention." Tony sad. "What the hell was step two?"

Steve, Clint, and Natasha were all fighting in one concentrated section as Thor landed next to them.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor said.

"Thor's right." Tony said through the comms. "We gotta deal with these guys."

 _There's too many to deal with right now._ Izzy thought, biting her lower lip.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team." Steve replied.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said.

"Yeah?" Clint said. "Get in line."

Izzy could understand the bitterness in Clint's voice but the deadliness in his voice was something that she hadn't heard yet since she met him.

"Save it." Steve said. "Loki is going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us…"

Steve trailed off and Izzy furrowed her brow, searching in the camera feeds she was tapped into for what he was seeing.

"Well." Her eyes widened as she heard Bruce's voice. She finally saw him ride up on an old motorcycle. "This all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Natasha replied.

Bruce leveled her with a tired expression. "Sorry." He said though he was almost unrepentant in his tone.

"No." Natasha said unconcerned. "We could use a little worse."

"Stark." Steve said into the comms. "We got him."

"Banner?" Tony asked.

"Just like you said." Steve said.

Tony seemed a little happier. "Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." He said. He came around a building with the Leviathan following him, the thing looking angry.

"I…I don't see how that's a party." Natasha said.

Bruce looked at it and walked forward.

"Dr. Banner," Steve said. "Now might be a really good time to get angry."

"That's my secret Captain." Bruce replied. "I'm always angry."

Izzy watched him change in to the Hulk with wide eyes. Even though the quality of the video wasn't great, she had never seen it happen before.

Hulk punched the Leviathan, hard, it crunched up like it had hit a wall standing up on end the metal plating breaking away as it was compressed. Tony didn't miss the opportunity to fire a rocket into the exposed flesh causing it to explode.

The Chitauri roared in anger, ripping their masks away, piercing cries echoing through the streets. The Hulk roared back in anger as the others raised their weapons looking around.

Looking up they watched hundreds of Chitauri and more Leviathans pouring out of the portal. Izzy's console was going haywire as it registered all the new hostiles.

They were very much out of their element here. But they had to continue.

"Uh, guys?" Natasha said looking up.

Tony's voice was grim. "Call it Cap."


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey everyone! End of Avengers and it's not even Wednesday! Next on to Iron Man 3. I haven't decided how I am going to handle Thor 2 and Cap 2 yet. Let me know if you have requests.**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: Re-upload**

 **WARNING: I rewrote a huge chunk of this chapter and it has a scene from Endgame in it with a few minor tweaks with a hint at a big plot point. If you have not seen the movie yet, please don't spoil it for yourself.**

* * *

Izzy kept her eyes on the growing area of red on her screen as the Chitauri flooded through the portal. As she watched it, planning out containment zones while Steve laid out his plan.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment." Steve said. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out you turn it back or your turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint said to Tony.

"Right." Tony said. "Better clench up Legolas."

Tony took Clint up to the top of a skyscraper and went off to corral the alien hoard.

"Thor, you've got to try and bottle neck that portal. Slow them down." Steve said. "You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor flew off and Steve turned to Natasha. "You and me, we'll stay down here, keep the fighting on us. And Hulk." Hulk turned to him tense as a stretched bungee cord. "Smash."

Hulk grinned and launched himself into the air grabbing, ripping, and smashing Chitauri fighters that didn't have a prayer. Thor was able to use the Empire State Building as a conductor to light the Chitauri up, forcing them back through the portal before they fully come through.

As she watched the fight, Izzy faintly heard Hill come up to Fury.

"Sir, the Council is on." Hill said.

Izzy looked back and noticed the grim expression on Fury's face as he walked off to take the call. She looked back at her screen as Hill looked at her.

Hawkeye was taking out Chitauri as he monitored everyone else. "Stark, you got a lot of strings sticking to your tail." He said.

"Just trying to keep them off the streets." Tony replied.

"Well they can't bank worth a damn." Clint said firing without looking, arrow connecting with a passing flyer. "Find a tight corner."

"I will, roger that." Tony said cutting through a parking garage, curving out quickly causing the Chitauri following him to crash into a building. "Nice call. What else you got?"

"Thor's taking on a squadron down on 6th." Izzy commented.

"And he didn't invite me." Tony replied.

Izzy smiled.

Natasha and Steve were trying to keep the fight contained in their area, but they were getting overwhelmed.

"Cap, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Natasha said.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve said.

Izzy tilted her head to the side. "Maybe it's not about guns." She said thoughtfully.

"You have something in mind?" Natasha asked.

"Depends if you can get up to the top of the tower." Izzy replied.

"You'll need a ride." Steve said to Natasha.

Izzy could hear the smirk in Natasha's voice. "I got a ride." She said. "I could use a boost though."

"Don't do anything too crazy Nat." Izzy said.

"You sure?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Natasha said. "It'll be fun."

Izzy sighed. "Dad, Clint, she's gonna need some cover." She said. Thor and the Hulk were busy taking out a Leviathan together.

Tony and Clint were taking out chariot riders as they tried to attack Natasha as she gained control over another chariot to get up to the top of the tower.

"Captain, the bank on 42ndpast Madison, they caught a lot of civilians trapped inside." Clint called out.

"I'm on it." Steve said.

Izzy frowned. "Nat, on your six." She said. Loki had caught up with Natasha.

"Oh. You." Natasha muttered looking back.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint asked picking her out of the chaos.

"A little help!" Natasha said.

Notching an arrow, he grinned. "I've got him." Clint said firing an arrow at Loki.

Loki caught said arrow looking bored, but it detonated knocking him through the window on the top floor of the Tower. Natasha was able to make it to the top of the tower, jumping off her ride and landing in a roll as she reached the generator making the portal. While she was occupied, the Hulk went after Loki in the tower.

Watching the Hulk smash Loki into the ground like a ragdoll would make Izzy laugh for a long time.

Selvig was still on top of the tower when Natasha arrived but he was coming back to his right mind. He gave them the key to closing the portal. The scepter.

Iron Man was tracking another Leviathan.

"Sir," JARVIS said. "We will lose power before we penetrate that armor."

"JARVIS," Tony said speeding up and coming back to the Leviathan. "You ever hear the story of Jonah?"

Izzy frowned. "Dad…"

"I wouldn't consider him a role model." JARVIS replied nervously.

Tony flew into the creature's mouth blasting it apart from the inside out.

On the bridge, Izzy noticed a flash of order 7 Alpha 11 on her screen while she tracked the battle.

"Sir, we have a bird in motion!" Hill said suddenly. "Anyone on deck, we have a rogue bird. We need to shut it down! Repeat. Take off is not authorized!"

Fury was able to take out one of the jets with a rocket launcher but there was a second one. "Stark, you hearing me?" He said. "We have a missile heading straight for the city."

"How long?" Tony asked.

"Three minutes at best." Izzy said. "You'll need to stay low and wipe it out."

Tony grunted as he was hit by a Chitauri soldier. "JARVIS, put everything we've got into the thrusters." He ordered.

"I just did." JARVIS said.

Tony blasted off to intercept the missile.

Natasha had gotten the scepter and was at the device opening the portal. "I can close it. Does anyone copy? I can shut the portal down." She said.

"Do it!" Steve said.

"No wait!" Tony said.

"Stark these things are still coming." Steve said.

"I've got a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute." Tony said as he caught up with the missile, lifting it up to redirect it towards the portal. "And I know just where to put it."

Steve's voice was grim. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?" He said.

Izzy's heart raced, blood pounding in her ears.

"Save the rest for the return J." Tony instructed JARVIS.

"Shall I try Ms. Potts?" JARVIS asked quietly.

"Might as well." Tony said. While the phone rang, Tony spoke with Izzy on their private line. "I love you, kiddo."

Izzy could already feel a panic attack coming on. "Dad, no you're going to make it back!" She said.

As she spoke with him, she was unaware of Hill staring at her sadly. Fury, who was back on the bridge was also watching her.

"Hey, stay strong for me, okay?" Tony said. "Things are going to be alright."

"Dad." She cried, tears falling uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the communication cut as Tony went through the portal, no longer on Earth anymore but in space.

The bridge crew cheered as Manhattan was no longer about to be destroyed, but among all the noise, Izzy sat motionless in her chair as she listened to static in her earpiece.

The Chitauri all suddenly drop. The missile hit the mothership.

"Daddy…" Izzy said quietly.

"Come on Stark…" Natasha's voice was in her ear.

There was a pause as they waited, watching the portal for any sign of Tony.

"Close it." Steve finally said.

"No!" Izzy cried covering her mouth, tears coming faster.

Natasha followed orders though and closed it. They watched the portal close, but just as it closed a small figure fell through, hurtling towards the ground. Iron Man.

"Son of a gun." Steve said in disbelief.

"Dad?" Izzy said, breath coming in hiccups but slowing as she looked at her readouts. The suit was off, even JARVIS couldn't get control.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said getting ready to fly up and grab him.

It wasn't needed though as Hulk leapt out of nowhere and caught Tony, bringing him down safely, if a bit roughly.

Steve and Thor got to them and Izzy held her breath as she waited for a response.

Hulk roared, startling Tony back to consciousness.

"What the hell?" Tony asked. "What happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?"

"We won." Steve said.

Izzy pulled her earpiece out and set it down for a moment. They had won, but she still couldn't get control of her shaking hands. She jumped, feeling a hand land on her shoulder. She looked up at Fury and he just nodded, reassuring her that things were okay now.

Making plans for immediate departure, Fury, along with Hill brought Izzy to New York. The trip taking no time, they arrived as the Avengers were getting back to the tower, where Loki was still recovering from his encounter with the Hulk. Once she got off the Quinjet, Fury kept a hand on her shoulder holding her back as they observed.

"If it's all the same to you..." Loki winced in pain. "I'll have that drink now."

"All right. Good one." Tony said moving away as they stood the demi-god up and put him in restraints, Thor keeping a hand on his brother. "No standing around, I'm closing up this door for later." Tony couldn't resist snarking. "By the way, feel free to clean up." The tower was wrecked.

"Uhh, magic wand?" Natasha asked, holding on to the scepter.

Fury walked forward at that moment. "STRIKE team's coming to secure it." He said moving to speak with Tony and Steve about the events before heading down to meet with Secretary Pierce. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to secure the cube and the scepter.

Tony's eyes sought Izzy, but she hung back watching things unfold so she wouldn't get in the way, as much as she wanted to run over and assure herself that Tony was indeed alive.

Clint noticed the hesitation in Tony's face, following his gaze to Izzy. "We got her." He said to Tony as Natasha gently directed Izzy closer to them, out of the way. Tony sent them a grateful look before getting back to work sealing the cube in a case and moving towards the elevator to join Fury and Pierce downstairs.

Izzy looked up at Clint, her sad eyes meeting his as her shoes crunched the glass on the floor.

He smiled reassuringly. "Come on, sit up here." He said helping her climb up to sit on top of the bar so she wasn't standing in it.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." Steve was saying to someone through comms.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!" Loki mocked, changing his image to resemble Steve. "I mean, honestly! How do you think you'll be—"

Thor put a muzzle on Loki's face, effectively ending his chatter. "Shut up." The thunder god growled in annoyance as he moved them towards the elevator.

The Hulk decided that he wanted to follow them as well.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa." Tony said holding up his hand as he sat on the case containing the cube. "Hey! Buddy." The Hulk paused in confusion. "What do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached."

"Take the stairs!" Thor said as Loki waved bye mockingly.

"Yeah." Tony said though he could clearly see the Hulk getting angrier. "Stop. Stop!" The Hulk punched the doors, denting them as they closed but the elevator was on its way down.

"Take the stairs." The Hulk muttered stomping off. "Take the stairs!"

Izzy watched the scene with amusement, but her smile faded after a second as the thoughts recapping the day's events started building her head again.

"You wanna talk about it?" Clint asked suddenly.

She looked up and saw the two assassins were watching her carefully. She couldn't exactly tell them nothing when both knew her well enough to know something was wrong. "He almost died…again." She said quietly, a flat note to her voice.

"That's always a risk." Natasha said.

Izzy frowned. "He promised me." She said more to herself than to them.

The two adults shared a look before turning back to her.

"Zee, as long as he's Iron Man that's a promise that he can never truly keep." Clint said gently. "You know that."

"I know." Izzy said sadly.

Natasha reached out and gently smoothed Izzy's hair down. "It doesn't make it any easier though." She offered sympathetically. "But you know that he's going to try everything that he can to live and be there for you."

Izzy nodded; she did know that. Even though it wasn't a concrete 'everything would be okay' conversation, just saying it helped, but she quickly tensed as the elevator opened again to reveal Sitwell along with Agent Rumlow.

"We can take that off your hands." Sitwell said as Rumlow set a case down on a nearby table.

"By all means." Natasha said, all too happy to be rid of the scepter.

Clint, who was grabbing one of the bottles of scotch and a glass, looked over. "Careful with that thing!" He cautioned as Sitwell reached to touch the end of the scepter.

"Unless you want your mind erased." Natasha commented as Sitwell looked at them.

"Not in a fun way." Clint said.

Izzy looked at him. "There's a fun way?" She asked.

Clint grinned at her. "I'll explain it when you're older." He said.

She chuckled and shook her head.

"We promise to be careful." Sitwell said with his usual condescending tone.

Izzy would have bristled and snarked back at him for his tone, but she was distracted by a brief flash of light, like a reflection. Looking towards the window she didn't see anything, so she just shrugged it off.

…

When the elevator opened again awhile later, Clint and Natasha were standing out on the balcony with Izzy surveying the damage to the city and the outside of the building from what they could see.

Glancing back, she saw Tony, Bruce, Thor, and Steve exiting the elevator. Izzy met Tony's gaze and she felt that familiar panicked sensation in her chest at the memory of almost losing him again.

Clint gently flicked her ear, startling her from her thoughts as he and Natasha moved inside, joining the others to let her and Tony have a moment alone.

Without a second thought, she ran right to Tony, who was waiting for her. She immediately embraced him quickly, relieved at the safe feeling that enveloped her before she pulled back and smacked him in the face, she was tiny, so it wasn't going to cause damage, but still got the point across that she was mad. Understanding or not she was still pissed off at him.

Tony caught her hands as she shoved at his chest. "I'm sorry Izzy." He said hugging her close. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Izzy wrapped her arms around him, quietly sobbing into his shoulder before she calmed. "It's always going to be like this, isn't it?" She asked with a small sniff.

Tony looked into her eyes, brushing her curls back out of her face and brushing away her tears. "I don't know." He admitted. "One day, hopefully the world won't need us anymore."

Izzy paused for a long moment. Finally, she took a deep breath and steeled herself up. "Let's make that happen then." She replied with a small smile.

Tony smiled back with pride and sadness as he looked at her brave face but red rimmed eyes. "We'll make it happen then." He said. Taking a deep breath, he smiled brighter. "Now how about food?"

…

After getting shwarma (which was delicious by the way) everyone had returned to the tower just needing to rest for a while. Steve was resting on one of the sofas, Thor was watching a random movie that was on tv, and Bruce and Tony were drinking coffee talking about Bruce staying in New York. Having commented that she had poor form when she hit Tony, Clint was holding his hands up, palms facing her, as Izzy threw punches while Natasha corrected her occasionally.

The relative peace was shattered when Pepper, who was not happy, exited the elevator. There were a lot of tears and yelling but things eventually calmed down. She was just relieved that Tony and Izzy were both safe.

…

Getting Thor and Loki back to Asgard was a chore, but Tony, Izzy, Bruce, and Selvig working together made it happen. They all gathered in Central Park to send them off with the tesseract.

While Bruce, Tony, and Selvig actually handled the pieces of getting the cube into place so they could leave, Izzy stood with Clint and Natasha, the later keeping a protective arm around Izzy. Clint was crowding her space as well, on edge, but Izzy just smiled up at him unconcerned. His mood lifted after Natasha leaned over and whispered something quietly in his ear.

As the Asgardians got ready to depart, Izzy shifted over to Tony's side; he automatically reaching out to flip her sunglasses, which were on top of her head, down. It was pretty amazing to watch them disappear in the Bifrost. Finally, they all parted ways, Bruce was coming with Tony and Izzy for now. Izzy hugged Natasha and Clint goodbye demanding promises that they would come to visit often, before they went off together, heading back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve and Tony shook hands and Izzy waved goodbye as he got onto his motorcycle and drove off.

"You ready?" Tony asked.

"Yep." Izzy replied as she climbed into the back seat of the Audi sports car that Tony had brought. Bruce got in the front passenger seat and Tony got in the driver's seat, heading back to the Tower.

Once there, Izzy went up to the top floor while Tony got Bruce settled. She walked over to Pepper, who was waiting at a table with designs for the new Tower. Pepper hugged Izzy close. Finally, Tony joined them, and everything felt normal for a brief moment as the three of them stood together.

They had no idea what was coming for them.


	28. Chapter 28

**Iron Man 3! Ready to be moving on.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy was going through the old files that JARVIS had labeled for review for destruction while Tony was working on something in the corner of his workshop. She was currently on a conference that he did in Bern, Switzerland.

The thirteen-year-old, dressed in Christmas-y leggings and an oversized sweater was up much later than she promised Pepper she would be because she was very concerned about her father. She glanced up from the file that she was reading as JARVIS continued to count.

"47." JARVIS said.

Tony shot another micro-repeater into his arm.

"Sir, may I request a few hours to calibrate—"

"Nope." Tony said shooting another into his arm.

"48. Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete." JARVIS said. "I've also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore."

"Which I will." Tony said. "All right. Let's do this."

Izzy closed the screen she was looking at for later review and pulled up another screen to watch diagnostics on the MARK 42.

"DUM-E." Tony said. "Hi DUM-E, how did you get that cap on your head? You earned it."

DUM-E, who had been sweeping the floor had a dunce cap on his head

"Hey, hey," Tony stood up, hitting the sparing model on his way over to the robot. "What are you doing out of the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it."

Tony was being a little more manic than usual and for the first time in a while, Izzy was worried.

"Sir, may I remind you that you have been awake for nearly 72 hours." JARVIS said.

"Dad, it might be a good idea to do this tomorrow." Izzy said carefully.

"It's fine sweetie." Tony said. "Focus up ladies. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suite. I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, bad-ass baby brother." He looked at U, who was filming. "Start tight and then go wide. Stamp date and time. MARK 42. Autonomous propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence." He wiggled his fingers and the pile of armor parts sitting a short distance from him lit up. "JARVIS, drop my needle."

JARVIS activated the vinyl record player on the desk to play a techno-y version of Jingle Bells.

Izzy pulled out her phone, she wanted a video of this for later.

Tony held up his arms to call over the left gauntlet. There was a brief pause, and nothing happened. "Crap." Tony said as he pressed at his arm to activate the micro-repeater. He tried again and this time the gauntlet came to him.

Next was the right arm. "Okay, I think we got this. Send them all." He said smiling.

Izzy braced to dodge out of the way quickly if this went south.

The pieces did come, but they were coming to fast and Tony had to spend more time dodging than allowing them to align right. "A little fast," Tony said as he dodged one coming for his head. "Slow it down." He ducked, and one piece took a chunk out of the far wall. "Cool it JARVIS, will ya?" The back piece knocked him forward and he quickly had to use the thrusters to avoid landing on his face.

After a second, most of the pieces were assembled, except the face plate. It shot past him and hit the table, knocking the record loose.

"Come on." Tony said. "I ain't scared of you."

The mask went towards him but hit the table, turning it upside down. Tony used the thrusters and flipped in the air catching the mask at the right angle and landing in the nearly fully assembled MARK 42 suit.

"I'm the best." Tony said.

Just as he said that, the butt piece broke free of the glass behind him and hit, knocking him to the ground and causing the pieces to scatter.

"As always Sir, a great pleasure watching you work." JARVIS said as Izzy cracked up laughing.

"Are you okay dad?" She asked when she could breathe again.

"I guess 72 hours is a long time to go between siestas." Tony admitted.

Izzy stood up and walked over. "Come on." She said. "Let's go upstairs. This mess will be here in the morning."

Tony stood up, stretching. "You're right." He said.

They walked upstairs together, Izzy letting Tony lean on her since he was a little wobbly. They made it in to the living room before JARVIS alerted them to watch the TV.

The normal news program that should have been on was replaced by a hacked broadcast. There was a lot of imagery of the middle east, of war, but a lot of images of a man walking amongst the chaos. "Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher." The voice over said. The next scene was a close up on the man's face as he talked. "America, ready for another lesson? In 1864, in Sand Creek, Colorado, the US military waited until the friendly Cheyenne braves had all gone hunting. Waited to attack and slaughter the families left behind and claim their land." There was a lot of images that flashed intermittently in between the monologue of the man speaking. "39 hours ago, the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers. The braves were away. President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now you've missed me again." There were more clips of men yelling and waving assault rifles. "You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll never see me coming."

As the feed cut, the were left looking at the symbol for the 10 Rings.

Izzy and Tony stood in dead silence as they stared at the television screen. She looked up at him slowly.

"Dad?" She said.

"I'll contact Rhodey tomorrow." Tony said. "It's fine."

She frowned. "I don't think…"

"Izzy, it's fine." He said. "Go brush your teeth and get some sleep."

Seeing the futility of arguing about it, Izzy sighed and went upstairs. She sat on her bed and replayed the footage, over and over and over again. Something about this was itching at the base of her brain, this was not nothing and she had the same feeling in her stomach that she did before Tony went to Afghanistan. Things were about to go sideways in the worst possible sense.

The next morning, Izzy was sitting on the kitchen counter eating cereal when Tony and Pepper came downstairs. She had her blue tooth in her right ear talking on the phone. "Johnny, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to come out there right now." She said waving with her spoon to the two adults. "Why? Didn't you see the news? There is a crazy guy hacking into the airways!" She frowned, listening. "This is not 'nothing'!"

"You're still going to New York." Tony said.

Izzy looked up. "What? No—not you Johnny. I'll call you back." She took out the earpiece. "Dad, I can't go to New York for a 'fun trip' while there is a crazy man on the loose."

"What are you going to do here?" Tony asked. "We can't do anything right now. Rhodey said the military is handling it."

"How?" Izzy replied.

"You know I am going to let that tone slide because it is too early to deal with it." Tony said in a reprimanding tone. Izzy at least had the decency to look down. "However, I will tell you that I am meeting with Rhodey tomorrow to discuss it."

"You should ask him about the stupid re-brand too." Izzy said.

"I know." Tony said. "Iron Patriot? Really?"

Pepper smiled as the two went off to bash the new name, amazed at how easily they went back to being friends on the same mental wavelength.

Finally, they agreed that Izzy would fly out to New York to spend a few days with Johnny and Sue before coming back for Christmas. She was going to fly out that afternoon.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi all! I wanted to get another chapter going so I could start jumping into some deeper stuff. This will have some fun interactions between Izzy and a character we haven't heard a lot from yet. I realized that I am going to have to change some things about IM3 because I haven't decided exactly where I am going to put Izzy during certain parts of the story. Hang in there though, I promise I have a point to this and I won't alter too much.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy sighed as the elevator opened at the top floor of Stark Tower. She walked over to the sofa and dropped her bag down on the floor before she lay down on her stomach on the sofa. The plane had been rerouted twice because of bad weather and they had finally landed in La Guardia Airport an hour ago. It took that long for her to get to the Tower after the security that Happy arranged picked her up.

Izzy rolled over, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She held it to her ear and waited for a moment. "I made it to the Tower." She said when Tony asked the phone. "I'm really regretting flying out here."

 _"Come on, you've been looking forward to going out there for a while."_ Tony said.

"Yeah but not the crazy snow storms." She muttered. "Now I know why we always spent Christmas in Malibu."

Tony chuckled. _"You'll see Johnny and Sue tomorrow and you'll forget all about it."_ He said.

"I'm sure." Izzy said with a sigh. "Which reminds me, they want to know if they can come to the Tower."

 _"Yeah, but you know the drill," Tony said. "Don't let anyone poke around R &D."_

Izzy made a noise of affirmation. "I'll talk to you tomorrow dad." She said. "I love you. Give Pepper my love too."

After she hung up, she just lay on her back staring up at the ceiling for a moment before she heard the elevator ding. She sat up and stared at it for a long moment. When it opened, she relaxed as she watched Bruce amble out with silent steps, ringing his hands in that nervous way he did.

"Hey Dr. Banner." She said swinging her legs over to put her feet on the floor.

Bruce looked up. "Isabel." He said with a kind smile. "JARVIS told me that you made it in."

"Yeah, as much as the snows wanted to stop me." She said with a smile standing up. "How are you getting along here?"

"It's good." He said. "I'm grateful to you and your dad for letting me stay here."

"I wasn't fishing for gratitude." Izzy said gently.

Bruce smiled. "Sorry." He said.

Izzy sighed but smiled. "We'll work on that."

The next day it wasn't snowing for a change but pretty early in the morning, Izzy got a text that damped her entire mood. Johnny and Sue both sent a floor of texts worked up over the fact that their dad wanted to take them with him to a conference in Germany, so she had basically flown out here for nothing.

However, it proved to be a good thing as she got to spend a lot of time in the lab with Bruce. She decided she really liked working with him. It wasn't the same quick pace that she normally worked at with Tony, there was a quiet, serene feeling to the lab that she found to be a welcomed change.

"So, have you decided on your extra fields of study yet?" Bruce asked as they took a break to get some lunch, though it was nearly 3pm.

Izzy shrugged. She had been accepted to MIT right after the attack on New York and she was set to finish next year, a year younger than Tony when he first graduated. Like him she was getting a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering and physics, but she was also looking at doing biological DNA coding, thermonuclear astrophysics and several other fields on top of that. She was getting a formal degree in computer programming but that didn't really mean much since she had already been doing that stuff for a while, it was just busy work on top of her other studies.

"I don't know. I'm kind of annoyed with school currently, so I may wait a year to decide on something else."

"A whole year? Why you'll be an old lady by then." Bruce teases.

Izzy laughed lightly.

They continued to talk for a bit about meaningless things until Izzy's phone beeped. Bruce excused himself to go back to the lab. She pulled the phone out, expecting it to be Tony letting her know what Rhodey said, instead it was a health alert coming from the suit. She sat up and looked at the readings. No sign of poison, no bodily harm, heart rate was elevated, shortness of breath, heavy perspiration.

"J, what am I looking at?" She asked.

"I believe that Sir has had an anxiety attack." JARVIS replied. "Though he does not believe that is the case."

Izzy frowned. Anxiety attack? "J, when was the last time that dad got a full night's sleep?" She asked.

"According to my records the last time that Sir slept through the night was over a week ago." JARVIS replied, the AI even sounding concerned.

She knew that he had been struggling since New York. He didn't tell her exactly what he saw, though she had been able to pull the footage herself from the suit before the power had cut out. He changed that day, and this was haunting him.

"I need to get home J," She said. "When is the soonest that I can fly out?"

"I'm afraid that it will be a few days Miss if the weather continues to behave as it is." JARVIS replied.

Izzy looked outside to see that it had begun to snow again. "Keep me updated." She said. "The minute that we can get the jet in the air, I want to be out of here."

"Yes, Miss." JARVIS said.

Tony called Izzy a couple hours later. He told her what Rhodey said about the bombings, there had been nine, but the government had only told the public about three of them. Rhodey was insisting that it was for the government to handle, especially because of the whole alien invasion that they were powerless against, they had to put forward a strong front, which Izzy was not exactly opposed to now given the new information of anxiety attacks.

"Happy called and said that Pepper was having a meeting with this guy that she knew a long time ago." Tony said thoughtfully. "Happy says that I met him back at a conference like 14 years ago."

"Oh yeah?" Izzy said. "Switzerland? Wasn't it?"

"Yeah." The minute she mentioned Switzerland, Tony's expression clouded for a moment.

"Dad?" Izzy asked looking at the screen.

Tony shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry about Johnny and Sue, kiddo." He said.

She accepted the change of topic. "It's okay." She said. "I've been spending time with Bruce in the lab all day, he's got some amazing ideas that you are going to want to hear. I think he enjoyed being involved with the Avengers, he wants to help more."

"He told you that?" Tony asked.

"Not in so many words, but he's talking about armor that can stand up to the other guy." Izzy said, eyes lighting up.

Tony smiled. "I can't wait to hear about it." He said. "Hey, it's getting late there. You need to get some dinner and get some sleep."

Izzy smiled fondly at him. "I like that you make an effort to make sure I'm not an obsessive compulsive weird like every other Stark." She said with a laugh.

Tony laughed loudly.

"Night daddy." She said.

"Night sweetheart." Tony said smiling softly, eyes warm as he looked at her.

They disconnected the call and Izzy went to find something for dinner. Thankfully, Bruce knew how to cook and was willing to teach her, so they spent 30 minutes making baked mac and cheese, garlic parmesan sweet potatoes and a light salad.

Izzy was happy full after dinner and ready to curl up in bed and go to sleep. She said good night to Bruce and went to get in her pajamas.

As she was brushing her teeth, she was listening to the evening news. It wasn't anything new so far, mostly stuff about the Mandarin broadcast, the Iron Patriot (eye roll), weather, sports, and latest celebrity gossip, mostly talking about whether or not Iron Man would get involved with the whole Mandarin craziness.

Izzy was just about to turn out the lights when Breaking News flashed across the screen. She froze in horror as she looked at the aftermath of a bomb going off in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

She pulled out her phone and called Tony, but Pepper answered the call.

"Pepper?" She said confused. "What's going on back there? Where is dad?"

"He's at the hospital." Pepper said sounding shaken.

"What?!" Izzy cried, blood running cold.

Pepper realized her mistake quickly and corrected. "No, he's fine, your dad isn't hurt." She said.

"Why is he at the hospital then?" Izzy asked.

Pepper sniffed. "Happy was near the theater when the bomb went off." She said. "He's in a coma."

Izzy sunk down onto the bed, numbly, disconnecting the call. After a minute she shook off the shock and dialed a number on her phone. "Hey, it's me." She said. "I'm really sorry to call, but I really need your help."


	30. Chapter 30

**Whoa! Lots of things happening in this chapter! I'd love to hear people's thoughts and predictions! After this chapter, I might not have another one up until monday or tuesday, we'll see how things go with school.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy sat in the lab with Bruce working on some final details, making some additional adjustments where needed.

"I don't think your dad is going to be very happy with this." Bruce said nervously.

"He helped me build it in Malibu, we're just adding the finishing touches to the new model here. But we're already out of time, dad issued the challenge to the Mandarin this morning." Izzy replied as she typed a few things on the computer. She glanced at him. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that he knows it was all my idea." She made a few final key strokes and smiled. "That should be it."

Bruce sighed in frustration. "But, Isabel this is really dangerous." He said.

"I've done this a million times." She said.

"Yes, building it, but not actually using it." He replied.

"Miss, I have to agree with Dr. Banner." JARVIS spoke up. "Given the compactness of the model there are terabytes worth of data to analyze and safety information to consider."

Izzy rolled her eyes as she stood up and moved towards the door of the lab. "J, what was it that dad said?" She asked. "Sometimes you have to run before you can walk."

Bruce followed her out to the top balcony and watched as the robotic arms came out to assemble the armor around her.

It was weird sensation being put in to the armor. Finally, when the HUD lit up inside the helmet, Izzy was initially overwhelmed with all the displays and readouts, but she took a second, compartmentalizing everything before she focused on Bruce, who was watching her.

"How does the suit feel?" Bruce asked.

"Weird." Izzy replied. "J?"

"I have been uploaded Miss." JARVIS replied. "All systems appear to be functioning normally, no immediate problems to note that would prevent a flight."

"Cool." Izzy said looking around, getting use to the displays. She faced Bruce. "Thank you for all your help Bruce."

"Just don't die on the flight back." Bruce said. "I don't want to explain that to Tony."

"It'll be fine I promise." She said. "J, don't let dad know I'm on my way back until I reach California." She turned back to Bruce. "See you around Dr. Banner."

She activated the thrusters and flew off towards the West Coast. It was an initial shock getting use to the powers of the suit but once she got the hang of it, it was the best feeling in the world. She broke the sound barrier somewhere over Iowa and made it to California by noon.

As soon as she passed the line into California, JARVIS informed her that he had contacted Tony. He was not happy, and she was now rethinking heading home.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Tony roared the minute she landed in the workshop/garage and was out of the suit.

She winced at the volume. "It's not the first time I've flown…"

"Here! Where I could watch you." Tony said, very worked up. "Where I would be close in case something went wrong! You built a suit, untested, and flew it across the country!"

"You built a suit and flew it to the middle east without properly testing it!" Izzy argued. "You issued a challenge, giving out _our_ home address to a terrorist nut job, and you're mad at me for being reckless?"

"I didn't want you to come back here for this at all." Tony said. "You were supposed to stay in New York, Pepper was going to go back there with you and I was going to deal with this."  
"Dad you had an anxiety attack at a sport's bar." Izzy said. "You aren't in a position to effectively deal with this!"

Tony froze, shocked that she knew about what happened.

She took advantage of his silence. "Dad, you've always said that we are a team." She said. "Let me help you with this. I don't have to go head to head with the Mandarin in a suit, but don't try and keep me away from this. I won't do it."

"Pepper is upstairs." Tony said after a minute. "You're coming up with a story for why you're here. Do _not_ tell her you have a suit."

Izzy nodded, and she went upstairs, pausing as she noticed a giant bunny sitting in the house by the stairs. She decided just to not ask about and ran upstairs. She found Pepper in the bedroom she shared with Tony.

"Hi Pep." She said walking in.

"Izzy?" Pepper jumped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Izzy thought quickly. "My plans changed so I flew back early." It was mostly true. "I heard about Dad's message to the Mandarin. Are you packing?"

"Yes." Pepper said. "I'm glad you're here. We all need to get out of here since your dad was crazy enough to give out the address here."

Izzy opened her mouth to reply but just signed and raced back to tell Tony what was coming. However, she paused when she reached the top of the stairs hearing the doorbell ring. She heard Tony talking with someone after a minute.

"Are we still at "ding-dong"? We're supposed to be on total security lock down." Tony said. "Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?"

"There's only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world's press your home address." JARVIS replied.

Izzy snuck down the stairs, staying out of sight behind the giant bunny. She was shocked to see a dark-haired woman walk in the door.

"Right there's fine." Tony, wearing the MARK 42 armor, said holding up one hand. "You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?"

The woman smiled. "You don't remember." She said. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't take it personally." Tony said. "I don't remember what I had for breakfast."

"Gluten free waffles, sir." JARVIS supplied helpfully.

"That's right." Tony said thoughtfully.

Izzy tilted her head to the side, studying the woman who obviously knew Tony. Long dark hair, brown eyes, pale skin like she didn't get out in the sun much. She was wearing an acid wash skirt, a brown shirt, a black jacket, and a pair of Vans. She didn't look like anyone Izzy had met before.

"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you." The woman said. "Someplace not here, it's urgent."

Tony squinted his eyes and turned away. "Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship. It's—" As he turns to walk into the living room, two bags are thrown down from the above balcony. "...with her."

"Tony is somebody there?" Pepper called down.

Tony stepped out of the suit and glanced over, spotting Izzy watching from near the bunny. To her surprise, he turned a little pale, but it vanished quickly. "Yeah, it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely." He said glancing at Maya who looked amused. He moved close to Maya and said something quietly to her. Izzy just assumed it was something to do with not telling Pepper about when they were _together_.

"I need your help." Maya said.

"What...what for?" Tony asked. "Why now?"

Izzy furrowed her brow. He was acting stranger than usual.

"Because I read the papers, and, frankly, I don't think you'll last the week." Maya replied.

"I'll be fine." Tony said.

Maya gave him a disbelieving look.

Pepper came down and Izzy quietly followed. "I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests." She smiled at Maya, though it was the professional smile.

"We weren't." Tony said.

"No, I—" Maya paused when she saw Izzy walking up quietly.

"And old girlfriends!" Pepper said.

"She's not, really." Tony said.

Maya snapped back from her shock. "No, not really." She said. "It was just…one night."

"Yep." Tony said.

Pepper looked at Tony. "That's how you did it, isn't it?" She said. "Yep."

"It was a great night." Tony offered to Maya.

"Well you know…" Pepper said.

"Yeah." Maya awkwardly.

"You saved yourself a world of pain." Pepper said.

"What?" Tony looked at her.

"I'm sure." Maya said smiling.

"Trust me." Pepper said and then turned to Tony. "We're going out of town."

Tony faced her. "Okay, we've been through this." He said. "Nope!"

"Yep!" Pepper replied. "Immediately and indefinitely."

"Honey—"

"Great idea." Maya said. "Let's go. I'll—"

"I'm sorry that's a terrible idea." Tony said. "Please don't touch her bags."

Pepper argued back. "Tony, this is how normal people behave." She said.

"I can't protect you out there." Tony said.

Maya turned around and noticed the giant bunny. "Is that normal?" She asked.

"Yes, this is normal!" Tony said

"Sadly, that…is very normal." Pepper said at the same time.

"It's a big bunny relax about it!" Tony said.

"Calm down." Pepper said to Tony.

Maya cringed and inched away from them. Izzy rolled her eyes seeing that this was going to spiral out of control quickly, so she walked towards the stairs leading to the workshop.

Maya's voice sounded worried behind her. "Guys, can we umm…"

"Tony?" Tony said.

"Do we need to worry about that?" Maya asked.

Izzy turned back at the stairs, freezing as she saw the helicopters facing the windows. Reacting on instinct, she held up her arms, the tracking bracelets on her wrist activating, call the suit to her. She was more protected from the explosion in the stairwell then the others were outside, but she did notice Tony call the suit to protect Pepper.

They needed time to get out of the house. Izzy flew past them, out the window went right through on of the choppers causing it to explode and fall into the waters below. Tony was not going to be happy as she drew fire from another chopper.  
"Ms. Potts and Ms. Hansen are clear of the house." JARVIS said in her ear.

Izzy glanced over quickly to see Tony call the armor back to himself.

"You are in so much trouble young lady." Tony said once the armor was on.

"Sorry." She said flying around the choppers quickly. "I could use some help though."

"JARVIS, where's my flight power?" Tony said.

"I'm working on it, sir." JARVIS said. "This is a prototype."

Izzy watched the piano get launched into one of the choppers. "Not the piano again!" She said swooping under a chopper. However, she wasn't paying enough attention and as Tony took out another chopper, it fired a missile and hit her, sending her into the workshop through the outside wall.

Tony fell through the floor and landed near her. "Are you okay?" He called.

She got her bell rung, but she was fine. "I'm good!" She called back.

They looked around and it was madness. U was on the ground and DUM-E was trying to get him up, the original five models of the suit that were on display in the workshop were being destroyed, some of the cars were falling in to the ocean through the gaping hole in the wall and the ever-tilting floor.

"Dad!" Izzy cried out as she started to slide.

"Izzy!" He tried to grab her, but she slid quickly down the gradient.

The last thing that she remembered seeing was four more missiles being fired from the one remaining helicopter, heading in their direction and then everything went dark.


	31. Chapter 31

**I uploaded too soon. Sorry all! Here is the correct chapter.**

 **This chapter has been fun to write. Kinda watching Izzy work through things on her own without having Tony there. I'll try to have another chapter up here soon. Also I moved a reveal from Age of Ultron up because I don't want to spend a lot of time on it later when I'm writing.**

 **As always please** **review :)**

* * *

Everything hurt.

Izzy opened her eyes, painfully aware that every single inch of her, down to the roots of her hair, hurt. Guess that's what happens when you get hit with a missile. Looking around, she appeared to have crashed through the roof of a barn somewhere. Considering there probably wasn't an actual barn within 100 miles of the house, it was a mystery as to where she landed.

"J, what happened?" She asked.

"I activated the thrusters in the suit after you lost consciousness." JARVIS replied. "We are currently in Iowa."

That took her back for a second. "Iowa!" She cried as the suit opened. "Why?"

"I'm afraid that I need to rest Miss." JARVIS said. "I…need…"

Izzy began to feel panic rising in her chest. "JARVIS, wait, why are we in Iowa?"

"Because," She yelped and looked up, shocked to see Clint Barton leaning against the doorway to the barn. "I told him to bring you here."

"Clint?" Izzy tried to stand but only succeeded in making herself dizzy. She stumbled sideways and tripped to sit on a bale of hay, the suit closing tightly now that she wasn't in it. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her head in her hands. "I don't feel so good."

She heard Clint walk over to her and rub her back. "Deep breaths kid." Clint said. "You probably have a concussion."

"Most likely." She muttered, the dizziness still not gone. "How long have I been out?"

"Not long." Clint said. "JARVIS called and asked where to take you since you have to be out of sight. I told him to bring you here and that was about 10 minutes ago."

"I got from California to Iowa in 10 minutes?" She looked up, instantly regretted it and closed her eyes again.

"Looks like it." Clint said.

Her eyes suddenly shot open. "Dad!" She said standing up quickly.

Too quickly, she just remembered Clint catching her as she passed out again.

When she opened her eyes again she was laying on a sofa with a cool cloth on her head. There was a woman with brown hair sitting on a sofa across from her holding a little girl, reading her a story, while I boy a little bit older than the girl was building with legos.

"Welcome back." She looked over to see Clint sitting on the floor next to the sofa by her legs. There was a bowl of ice water sitting on the floor with another cloth soaking in it, so she assumed he had been changing the cloths.

"Ow." She muttered.

"Yeah, concussions are a pain." Clint said taking the cloth off her head as she slowly sat up. "Easy, I really don't want you to puke on the floor."

"Clint." The brown-haired woman said admonishingly.

Izzy furrowed her brow in confusion and looked at Clint.

Seeing her questioning expression, Clint took a breath. "Isabel, this is my wife, Laura." He said.

"Your wife?" Izzy said in surprise. "And those two are…"

"Our kids." Clint said. "That's Cooper and Lyla."

They waved at Izzy, who gave a dazed little wave as well. She looked at Clint. "I didn't know you had a family." She said.

"Only Director Fury and Natasha know." Clint said. "And now you do."

The meaning was clear, and Izzy nodded. "Your secret is safe with me I promise." She said. "I wouldn't do anything to endanger your family. I'll make sure JARVIS wipes this location from record as well."

Clint smiled in thanks.

"Clint, what happened in Malibu?" Izzy asked. "Is my dad okay? Is Pepper?"

Clint sighed quietly and pulled out his phone, bringing up a news announcement.

Izzy watched the screen as they recapped the attack at the house. There was hardly anything left of the house and whatever remained was too unstable right now for anyone to get to. Pepper was alive, as was Maya Hansen from the brief glimpse of her in the video. However, they were saying that Tony was presumed dead in the attack.

There was a lot of question about where Izzy was, and some people had spotted the extra suit though no one had a clear enough image to discern that it was smaller than the normal armor, but no one had made the connection yet.

Izzy handed the phone back to Clint. There was a thick silence in the house between Clint, Laura (who had been listening), and Izzy.

"Isabel." Clint said gently.

She looked at him. "He's not dead." She said. "I don't believe it."

"Look, it wouldn't be the first time he escaped dying," Clint said. "But we need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about." Izzy said. "When JARVIS reboots I will find my dad and then we'll go find the Mandarin, wherever he is."

Clint glanced at Laura who didn't know what to say anymore than he did.

Izzy swung her legs over the side of the sofa, placing a hand on Clint's shoulder briefly to stead herself. "I need to start fixing my suit." She said and stood up slowly.

Clint exchanged a look with Laura, unsure at first what to do. "Isabel." He said standing up and following her.

Izzy was trying to move the suit into a sitting position against the haybale when he got to the barn.

"Hang on." He said holding up a jacket. "Put this on or you'll freeze out here."

Izzy paused and looked down at the sweater and leggings that she was wearing. She took the offered jacket and wrapped it around herself. It was one of Clint's, so it was huge on her and she had to push the sleeves far up her arms to free her hands, but it was warm.

"Come on kid." Clint said helping her sit the armor up and then had her sit on a the haybale next to it. "Tell me what's going on."

"I don't know." She finally said. "Something about this Mandarin thing has thrown everything off. I feel like we missed something really important and everything blew up in our faces, literally."

Clint sighed, resting his arms on his knees. "SHIELD is tracking the situation, but they haven't been able to get a clear lead on where the Mandarin is, here in the States. Last they knew he was still in the Middle East." He said.

Izzy frowned. SHEILD wasn't easily deceived, so why was this case unique?

"Look, just come back inside." Clint said. "It's getting late, you should call Pepper at least and tell her that you're okay."

"No." Izzy shook her head. "She needs to stay as far away from this as possible. She can't be involved."

"You know this isn't normal for a 13-year-old, right?" Clint asked.

"As opposed to the better options of mooning over some stupid boy in school or experimenting with drugs and alcohol?" She asked in clear disdain. "I'm not normal Clint, and that's actually preferable to me."

Clint sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "You're right about not being normal." He said. "If I didn't know how smart you were I would call you crazy."

"Poor people are crazy, Jack." Izzy replied with a half-smile. "I'm eccentric."

Clint laughed. "Nice reference to Speed." He said. "Come on. Let's go inside okay? You can look at this in the morning."

Izzy sighed. "Five minutes?" She asked.

Clint paused and looked into her big brown eyes. "Fine." He said. "But if you aren't inside in five minutes I'm coming out and I'll drag you in. Deal?"

"Deal." She said with a faint smile.

After he went inside, Izzy took the helmet off the suit and looked over the damage that she would have to fix. As she looked it over she heard an incessant beeping. Flipping the suit over, she saw a light blinking that indicated that she had a message. Putting the helmet on, she squinted against the HUD lighting up.

"Stark Secure Server, retinal scan verified." A voice said before playing the message.

 _"Pepper, Izzy, it's me."_ She about passed out in relief as she heard Tony's voice. _"I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you both in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry."_ Izzy chuckled. _"And I'm sorry in advance because...I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."_

Despite the odd way to end the message, Izzy felt a million times better. Tony was okay, who knows where, but he was fine. Now she just had to get her suit back into the proper condition to help him.

At the 5-minute mark, Clint was back outside, Izzy tried to plead for more time like she would with Tony or Pepper, but Clint didn't even bother replying and threw her over a shoulder, carrying her inside much to her shock.

Laura had Clint get Cooper and Lyla ready for bed while she heated up some dinner for Izzy.

Sitting at the table, Izzy watched Laura curiously as she moved about the kitchen. Given what she knew about Clint and his line of work, she didn't quite expect Laura to be so normal or as calm as she was around all the craziness, like a kid crashing through the roof of the barn in a flying metal suit. Izzy respected that.

Looking around the house, Izzy was reminded that it was Christmas, seeing the decorated tree with presents underneath it and the softly falling snow outside.

"Here you go." Laura said walking up with a bowl of beef stew and a chunk of crusty bread. "Clint said you didn't have any food allergies, but if you don't like this…"

One whiff of the food and Izzy's mouth was watering. "No, this is amazing. Thank you so much." She replied. She took one spoonful and was suddenly aware of how hungry she was.

"When did you eat last?" Clint asked having come around the corner to see her eating like a starving person.

Izzy paused, remembering her manners. "Sorry." She said sheepishly to Laura, who just smiled. "I think I ate…yesterday…maybe longer."

"Isabel…" Clint said admonishingly.

"Terrorist attacks will do that." Izzy replied taking another bite of strew.

Laura frowned in concern as she listened to the blasé way that Izzy said that.

Izzy swallowed her bite of food and looked up at Clint. "Dad is alive. I heard from him." She said.

Clint raised an eyebrow.

"He's fine. I'll figure out where he is tomorrow." Izzy said. "In the meantime, I need more information on the Mandarin, especially what he did before he started popping up around here." Izzy pulled out her phone and scrolled through some information, holding it up to an empty area, she projected a scene onto the floor. "Rhodey said that the most consistent thing was that there were never any shell casings, like the explosion was a spontaneous event."

"How is that possible?" Clint asked looking at the projection.

"Unless there was a major gas leak, it wouldn't be possible." Izzy replied. "And even with a gas leak there would be other signs, which there weren't. This is something else." Pulling her phone back, she looked for something else.

"Until now the 10 Rings have stayed pretty close to the Middle East." Clint said watching her. "The Mandarin didn't seem interested, or at least not ready to move things further out yet."

"Has anyone actually seen the Mandarin?" Izzy asked looking up. "I mean, aside from the videos lately?"

Clint frowned. "What are you getting at?" He asked.

Izzy sighed as she looked at her phone. "What if the Mandarin isn't the Mandarin?" She asked. She held up her phone and it showed a picture of a younger Maya Hansen. "This woman has been working on encoding DNA in the effort for regeneration, like bringing back lost limbs. The side effects are a little explosive, but for a while she was only operating with plants before she dropped off the radar. What if someone saw the potential and redirected her work?"

"Why would you think of her specifically though?" Clint asked.

"Because she showed up at my house right before it was blown to hell. She was looking for my dad, she said she needed help." Izzy said. "And I'm assuming she's with Pepper right now."


	32. Chapter 32

**Hi all! New chapter, yay! This one's not too long, but I'm hoping with two long chapters I will wrap up Iron Man 3 so I condensed a few things into this chapter in order to not have to worry about things not being explained. Let me know if y'all catch me little easter egg in here.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

After she had finished her dinner, Clint had advised Izzy to get some sleep, but that was around the time the insomnia kicked in because she couldn't stop thinking about the Mandarin or Maya Hansen. When it became clear she was just too wired to sleep, Clint elected to sit with her and help with the research, possibly move things along quicker instead of fighting with her about it.

Izzy appreciated that because it meant that she could work consistently without someone looking over her shoulder impatiently and it also meant she didn't have to hack in to SHIELD records, Clint could just pull it up for her.

"So, this is our earliest data on the Mandarin." Clint said showing her a file.

Izzy looked over the information, scanning it quickly. "Look at the targets that he picked." She said pointing out a few pieces. "Even the more recent attacks and targets before all this, they're clearly sending a message, but the signature is different from the ones that we're seeing now."

Clint would be lying if he said that he wasn't impressed that she had picked up something subtle from just reading through the files for five minutes. "Alright, so now we're left asking who this new guy is." He said.

"Exactly." Izzy said. "But I think I already know who it might be." She pulled up a different file. "Pepper had a meeting with a man that she knew way back when named Aldrich Killian, he was pitching a new idea for SI to fund, but she turned it down. The name sounded really familiar, so I looked a little deeper and I found that this man was actually at the same conference in Switzerland that my dad gave a speech at. However, there is a massive difference between how he looked then, and how he looks now."

Clint looked at the comparative pictures. "How long ago was this one?" He asked.

"1999." She replied. "However, there was also another face at this conference, Ms. Hansen. Killian was running a think-tank at the time, what if Ms. Hansen gave her idea over to the think tank and that's what we're looking at now? It would explain the drastic physical difference in Killian between then and now and it could possibly give us an explanation for the bombs with no shell casings."

"They weren't bombs." Clint said following her. "They were people."

"Mmhm." She nodded.

"But if this Maya Hansen is working for the 'Mandarin', why would she come to Tony for help?" He asked.

Izzy shrugged. "Maybe she's having second thoughts." She said. "I don't know. There was something said about her being an old girlfriend, but I doubt it's a long-lost love kind of thing. She seemed to think that my dad could and would help her though."

"When did you say this conference was again?" Clint asked after a second.

"December 31, 1999." She replied.

"And has she appeared at any conferences or anything of note between then and now?" He asked. "So, at no other point has she run in to Tony in the last 14 years?"

She shook her head. "I can't find a record of it." She said. "The only other record I can find was a train ticket that she purchased to bring her from Zurich to Berlin about a year later and then she vanished."

Clint nodded thoughtfully.

The silence in the room was broken by a breaking news story on CNN. They looked up to see that another explosion had gone off, this time at a small town in Tennessee.

"Think that's Tony?" Clint asked.

"I don't know." She said. She scooted closer to the TV. "Look at the water tower. The legs. It looks like it's been melted."

Clint frowned. "That's not normal." He said.

"No. It's not." She said. "I really hope I can get JARVIS back up soon."

Suddenly the new feed cut out and it was replaced by the symbol of the 10 Rings again. There was another broadcast coming through.

"Mr President." The Mandarin's voice came through the speakers. "Only two lessons remain. And I intend to finish this before Christmas morning. Meet Thomas Richards." The camera cut to a man in a suit crying. "Good strong name. Good strong job. Thomas, here, is an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation. I'm sure he's a really good guy." The Mandarin looked at the screen with a cold expression. "I'm going to shoot him in the head, live on your television in 30 seconds."

"No!" Thomas screamed.

"The number for this telephone is in your cell phone." The Mandarin said indicating the phone sitting next to him on a small table. "Exciting, isn't it, imagining how it got there? America, if your president calls me in the next half-minute, Tom lives. Go!"

Izzy stared at the TV, unable to look away. Suddenly, the phone started ringing. It continued ringing for about 5 seconds and the Mandarin pulled the trigger. Izzy yelped, and Clint pulled her close, making her look away from the screen.

"There's just one lesson left, President Ellis. So run away, hide, kiss your children goodbye." The Mandarin said without taking a second to pause. "Because nothing, not your army, not your red, white and blue attack dog, can save you. I'll see you soon."

After the news report, Clint pulled the plug on the everything and told her to get some sleep. She grudgingly went up to the guest room and tried to go to sleep. As she went upstairs, Clint pulled up another file before he went upstairs too.

"Date of birth…" Clint muttered quietly, scanning the file. "14 October 2000…"

He closed the laptop and went up to bed.

Once she heard Clint go to bed, Izzy waited another twenty minutes before she quietly snuck out of the room and downstairs. She pulled on her shoes and Clint's jacket and went outside to the barn. She activated the armor, shedding the jacket, she climbed inside, and it closed around her. "JARVIS?" She asked.

"Yes Miss?" JARVIS replied.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Not quite myself Miss." He replied. "Sir is working on trying to reboot me again."

"Can you connect me with the suit?" She asked.

The was a pause. "You are connected." He said.

 _"Hello? Who's there?"_

Izzy paused. That wasn't a voice that she had been expecting to hear. "J, who did you connect me to?" She asked thinking it was a private line.

"You're connected to the suit Miss." JARVIS replied.

 _"Who's there?"_ It was a kid, a young boy.

"Who are you?" She asked.

 _"I asked you first."_ The kid replied.

Izzy looked at the readout and saw for herself that she was indeed connected to the MARK 42. "J, where is my dad?" She asked.

 _"Are you the mechanic's daughter?"_ The boy asked.

"The Mechanic?" Izzy frowned. "Kid, who are you and why are you with the Iron Man suit?"

 _"Hold on, he said that you might call."_ The was a paused and she faintly heard a phone ringing.

 _"What is it now kid?"_ It was Tony.

"Dad!" She said.

There was a pause from a delayed signal. _"Hey, glad you called."_ Tony said. _"You've met Harley, he's been helping me."_

 _"Nice to meet you."_ Harley said.

"You too." Izzy said a little shocked. "Dad, what is happening? Where are you and why aren't you with the suit? Are you okay?"

Tony sighed. _"I'm fine. The suit was damaged. Harley is watching over it while I track down the Mandarin."_ He said.

"I really need to talk to you about that." Izzy said.

 _"I have to go kiddo."_ Tony said. _"Signal is breaking up."_

"Wait!" The line was disconnected. She made a noise of frustration and sighed. "Harley was it?"

 _"Yeah?"_ The kid replied.

Izzy took a deep breath. "Tell me where he's heading."


	33. Chapter 33

**OMG guys finally an update! I am so sorry that it's been so long but things have been horrible and crazy and I had writer's block on top of it all. Hopefully the next one will not be as long of a wait and I hope to wrap up IM3 but we'll see. I don't particularly like this chapter, I'm just not happy with it so at some point I may replace it with a better one, but for now this one stands. I won't be offended if you don't like it.**

 **As always please review :)**

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Izzy was making a few final checks on her suit when Clint came outside. It was 5am so he looked a little upset at being up so early and seeing her outside working on the suit.

"Dad is heading to Florida." She said. "I talked to him, he was in Tennessee, I didn't get a chance to tell him about what we found. If he's heading in to a trap, then I need to meet him there and tell him what's going on."

"Isabel." He said.

"Clint." She replied without stopping.

He rubbed his eyes in frustration. "You are an exercise in frustration, you know that?" He asked.

"I've been told that." She replied. "I haven't been able to reach Pepper, I tracked her to a hotel but she's not answering the phone."

"That's doesn't necessarily mean she's in trouble." Clint said.

"No but this does." Izzy held up her phone, bringing up a projection, a video of Pepper being taken out of a hotel room unconscious by Killian, with Maya walking behind them. "They have Pepper, this can't wait."

"About Maya Hansen." Clint said. "Isabel—"

"I know what you're going to say." She said cutting him off. "It doesn't matter though. I don't have time to deal with it."

"You may have to deal with it." He said.

"Like I said." Izzy replied looking up. "It doesn't matter." On that note, she stepped into the suit and it closed around her, but the faceplate stayed up. "Thank you, Clint, for everything that you've done. You always keep saving me."

"Anytime kid." Clint said.

"Merry Christmas." She said, and the faceplate closed. "I'll make it up to you for the hole in the barn." She blasted up and flew out of said hole in the roof in the direction of Florida.

Of all the stupid things that her father had done, confronting the Mandarin without the suit was taking the cake at the moment. When Izzy arrived in Florida, it wasn't hard to track Tony down now that JARVIS was working properly. Though she was impressed with the array of weapons that he made from just a hardware store, she still wanted to strangle him for going in to this heavily guarded mansion without anything but those crude weapons.

She had gotten there too late to prevent him from getting knocked out and taken further in to the building, but instead of following the normal Stark plan, attack, she decided to do her research first. She deployed small surveillance drones of her own design inside the building in multiple locations.

It didn't take long to locate Tony in a dungeon looking room, zip tied to the frame over an iron bed that was stood up at one end, so Tony could remain on his feet. Maya Hansen was also in the room but in no hurry to help Tony.

She watched as Tony started to wake up.

Maya turned around in her chair. "Just like old times huh?" She said.

"Oh yeah," Tony muttered. "With zip ties, it's a ball."

Izzy wrinkled her nose.

"Wasn't my idea." Maya said.

Tony nodded. "Okay, so you took Killian's card." He said.

"I took his money." Maya corrected.

"And here you are thirteen years later." Tony said. "In a dungeon."

"No." Maya said. "You're in a dungeon, I'm free to go."

"Yeah." Tony shook his head.

Maya sighed and stood up, walking towards him. "A lot's happened Tony." She said. "And I'm close. Extremis is practically stable—"

"I'm telling you that it isn't!" Tony said. "I'm on the streets, the people are going bang, their painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself. Thirteen years ago, you knew this was too dangerous, that's why you sought me out."

The way that he said it, it was desperate, but in a way that Izzy had never heard him sound before.

"Help me fix it." Maya said holding up a card.

Izzy squinted to see what was written on the small card, it looked like a name tag.

"Did I do that?" Tony asked.

Maya looked surprised. "Yes." She replied.

"I remember the night not the morning." Tony said. "Is this what you've been chasing around?"

"You don't remember?" Maya looked crushed.

"Can't help you." Tony said. He looked at her solemnly. "You used to have a moral psychology, you use to have ideals, wanted to help people. Now look at you." He shook his head. "You gave up something amazing for this. I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has her soul."

Maya stared at him for a long moment before looking down.

"Get me out of here." He said gently. "Come on."

Maya had a moment of indecision on her face before she started to turn away.

However, Killian arrived at that moment. "You know what my old man used to say to me?" He said walking in with a confident swagger. "One of his favorite of many sayings...'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese'."

"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony asked.

"How can I be pissed at you Tony?" Killian said. "I'm here to thank you. You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me. Desperation." Killian walked up close to Tony, invading his personal space. "If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour…I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean."

"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse." Tony said.

"But as I looked out over that city," Killian continued. "nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since." He moved around the room, still talking. "You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."

"You're something else." Tony said flatly, listening to him.

"You have met him, I assume?" Killian said sitting at a desk, pulling out a briefcase.

Tony sighed. "Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier." He said.

Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"I know he's a little over the top sometimes." Killian said. "It's not entirely my fault. He has a tendency…he's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is. Anyway, the point is, ever since the big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day."

 _That was fair._ Izzy thought.

"What's next for you and your world?" Tony asked.

"Well, I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me." Killian said rolled three silver balls onto the ground and activated a remote, triggering a hologram. "Desperation."

Izzy gasped as she looked at Pepper, strapped to some kind of table with the obvious signs of Extremis coursing under her skin. She looked like she was in horrible pain, she probably was.

"Now, this is live." Killian said. "I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular. But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain." He clicked the remote and the image turned off. "We haven't eve talked about salary yet." He walked up, grabbing Tony by the throat. "What kind of perk package are you thinking of?" That's when Izzy saw the red glow of Extremis, and another theory was confirmed.

That complicated matters because she couldn't just bust in there and take Killian on, the resulting explosion would kill Tony and Maya, and possibly here if the suit couldn't take the heat.

"Let him go." Maya said suddenly.

Izzy looked at the brunette woman, surprised to see her holding a needle to her neck.

"Hold on." Killian said to Tony. "Maya." He paused, seeing the needle.

"I said let him go." Maya said again.

"What are you doing?" Killian asked.

"1200 CCs…a dose half this size, I'm dead." Maya said.

Killian glanced at Tony. "It's times like this my temper is tested somewhat." He said. "Maya, give me the injector."

"If I die Killian, what happens to your soldiers?" Maya asked. "What happens to your product?"

"We're not doing this." Killian said. "Okay?"

"What happens to you?" Maya asked. "What happens if you go too hot?"

Killian took a deep breath and then looked at Tony. "The good news is, a high-level position has just been vacated." He shot Maya without hesitation and she fell to the ground.

"You are a maniac." Tony said.

"No, I'm a visionary." Killian said as he walked out of the room. "But I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight."

Izzy saw through her little spies that there were guards coming to watch them, she took that moment to fly through the window and using a blast on low enough power not to kill them, took the guards out. "Dad." She looked at Tony.

"Help her." Tony said motioning to Maya.

Izzy looked at him for a second before she got out of her suit, having JARVIS take over to watch for any other guards and to free Tony. She knelt next to Maya, quickly taking off the thin cardigan that she was wearing, bundling it up, and placing it against the wound.

Maya opened her eyes. "Isabel?" She said quietly.

"Lie still," Izzy said furrowing her brow. "We'll get you help."

Maya reached up and placed a blood-stained hand over Izzy's and smiled faintly. "I'm so happy that I got to meet you." She said. "I'm sorry."

"We can deal with Extremis." Izzy said, trying to stop what she knew was coming.

"No." Maya said as Tony knelt next to them. "I'm sorry for more than you'll ever know…"

Izzy looked at Tony. Tony didn't quite meet her gaze but looked down at Maya.

"The computer." Maya pointed out. "Everything from the program is on there."

Though it felt like there was more to say, so much was left unsaid as they watched the light fade from Maya's eyes.

Tony let out a slow breath and looked at her. "Isabel…"

"We don't have time dad. You need to call the suit." She said. "One of my spy bots found Rhodey, he's here, they captured the Iron Patriot armor and they're trying to steal it. I'll get whatever information is on the computer, but we need to save Rhodey and Pepper."

Izzy didn't give him the chance to reply as she stood up. This was all the last thing she wanted to deal with, right now or at any point, but for now they had bigger problems to deal with.


	34. Chapter 34

**Omg! Finally another chapter. I am so sorry guys, it has been back to back tests and horrible events in other areas. I have had no motivation to write it's been so bad. Thank you all for your patience. We're heading in to the final battle, I will probably be able to wrap IM3 up in the next chapter.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

The MARK 42 arrived in inelegant fashion as more guards appeared. Father and daughter took them out together. Izzy made sure to take most of the bullets because the armor was arriving in pieces, but even without the helmet and targeting system, Tony had better aim.

"Killian got Rhodey out of the War Machine armor." Izzy said. "Rhodey got away, but Killian put one of his guys in the armor. I don't know where he's heading."

"Where's Rhodey?" Tony asked.

Izzy cringed. The downside to her little spies, they overloaded quickly causing the circuits to melt, and she hadn't worked out that bug yet. "I don't know." She said.

As they got outside, Tony tried to get the suit to fly, but it was still malfunctioning. JARVIS was working properly now though.

Suddenly, an unknown number called Tony directly, it was Rhodey.

"Tony." Rhodey said sounding a little banged up.

"Rhodey." Tony said. "Tell me that was you in the suit?"

"No." Rhodey said. "You got yours?"

"Uhh…" Tony said. "Kind of. Meet in the house as fast as you can. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Tony went to the house while Izzy did a sweep of the rest of the compound in the air. When she got back to the house, Rhodey had just shot the last two guards. There was a smallish mad that looked like the Mandarin but was in street clothes sitting in a recliner. Rhodey had a gun on him.

"Make a move and I break your face." Rhodey said.

"I never knew that people had been hurt." The guy said in an English accent. "They lied to me."

Izzy looked at Tony. "Really?" She asked.

"This is the Mandarin?" Rhodey asking looking at Tony as well.

Tony sighed. "I know. It's embarrassing." He said.

"Hi. Trevor." The man said. "Trevor Slattery."

Rhodey knocked the offered hand away.

"I know I'm smaller in person." Trevor said. "But if you're here to arrest me, there's some people I'd like to roll on."

"Here's how it works Meryl Streep." Tony said. "You tell us where Pepper is and he'll stop doing it."

"Doing what?" Trevor asked.

Rhodey put the barrel of the gun against his ear, which burned like hell.

"Ow! Okay, that hurt." Trevor said. "I get it. I don't know about any Pepper. But I do know about the plan."

"Spill." Izzy said.

"Do you know what they did to my suit?" Rhodey asked.

"What? No." Trevor said. "But I do know it's happening off the coast. Something to do with a big person. I could take you there. Whoa!" All three jumped. "Olé, olé, olé, olé!

Izzy looked at the TV and there was a soccer game going on.

"I swear I'm going to blow his face off." Rhodey said to Tony.

"Oh this next bit may include something about the Vice President as well." Trevor said. "Is that important?"

"Somewhat." Tony said.

"Yeah, a little bit." Rhodey said at the same time, annoyed.

Tony and Izzy walked closer as Rhodey came over to them. "So?" Tony asked.

"What are we going to do?" Rhodey asked. "We don't have any transport."

There was a crack of a can and the three looked to Trevor, who had just opened a beer.

Tony looked at him thoughtfully. "Hey, Ringo." He said. "Didn't you say something about a lovely speedboat?"

As they went to the speedboat, Rhodey actually looked at Izzy. "Where did the suit come from?" He asked.

"I'm shocked it took you this long to ask." Izzy said with a laugh.

"Save it." Tony said. "Let's go."

When they were finally in the water, they clued Rhodey in to what had happened so far, and they started planning.

"If he's right about the location," Tony said. "We're 20 minutes from where Pepper is."

"We also have to figure out this Vice President thing." Rhodey said.

"Right." Tony said. "I wonder who I'm calling? Oh, it's the Vice President."

Izzy listened as she watched the skies for trouble.

 _"Hello?"_ The VP answered after they spoke with secret service.

"Sir, this is Tony Stark." Tony said.

 _"Welcome back to the land of the living."_

"We believe you're about to be drawn in to the Mandarin campaign." Tony said. "We need to get you somewhere safe as soon as possible."

 _"Mr. Stark, I am about to eat honey-roast ham surrounded by some of the agency's finest."_ The VP said. _"The President is safe on Air Force One with Colonel Rhodes. I think we're good here."_

Rhodey spoke up. "Sir, this is Colonel Rhodes." He said. "They're using the Iron Patriot as a Trojan horse. They're going to try and take out the President somehow. We need to immediately alert that plane."

 _"Okay. I'm on it. I'll have them lock it down."_ The VP said. _"If need be, they can have F-22's in the air in 30 seconds."_

"Rhodes and Stark out." Rhodey said looking at Tony.

Izzy was listening to the chatter for a bit. "I'm not hearing any update that the Vice President informed anyone." She said looking up.

"We need to make a decision." Rhodey said. "We can save the President, or we can save Pepper. We can't do both."

"Let me go after one." Izzy said.

"Absolutely not." Tony said. "You're not leaving my sight."

JARVIS spoke in her and Tony's ear. "Sir, I have an update from Malibu." He said. "The cranes have finally arrived, and the cell doors are being cleared as we speak."

"What about the suit I'm wearing?" Tony asked.

"The armor is now at 92%" JARVIS replied.

Tony unplugged the cables charging the suit. "That's going to have to do." Tony said.

Izzy looked at another screen on her HUD. "Air Force One is compromised." She said. "We need to go."

As the two suits raced through the air, Izzy's thoughts moved at the same pace. The Vice President was working with the Killian, that's why Killian seemed so confident in his plan. But why would the VP betray his country like that?

"Think about it." Tony said quietly when Izzy brought up the subject. "The Vice President's granddaughter, you've met her before…"

Izzy's eyes widened. "Her leg…" She said quietly. "But Extremis is too dangerous. Why take that chance and put a child through that?"

"Kiddo, there's very little I wouldn't do to make sure that you were safe and happy." Tony said. "We do crazy things for the people that we love. He's operating on a chance that he can make life better for her. His reasonings aren't that insane when you really think about it."

Izzy quieted for a long time, mulling over what he said. However, she didn't have another moment as Air Force One came into view and the Iron Patriot armor was flying away. "Dad, the armor." She said.

"Catch it, see if you can get close enough to get a tracker on it." Tony said. "Then come back."

"On it." She kicked up the thrusters, racing to catch the suit.

She listened to JARVIS give her updates on what was happening in the plane as she caught up to the armor. She was almost within range when JARVIS informed her that the Extremis soldier on the plane had blown a hole in the hull and the civilians inside had been sucked out.

Hesitating for a moment, Izzy banked quickly and flew back to the plane. Tony was already catching some of them.

"J, plan me a route." She said racing in.

Following the line on her display, she caught one guy in a suit and proceeded on to the others until finally there was one left.

"My suits maxed out." Izzy said to Tony.

"Well get him together." Tony replied, his suit in a similar position.

The moved their chain of people closer together and they were able to reach the last guy. They activated their thrusters together to bring the line up, so they didn't smack in to the water. When they were able to slow down enough, they let them drop in to the water.

"Yeah!" Tony cried out.

"We did it!" Izzy said at the same time.

Everyone in the water was cheering. Boats were moving in to help them.

"Nice work guys." Tony said. "Excellent. Good team effort all around. Go us." They moved to head back to Rhodey. "Alright JARVIS, it's only half done. We've got to get Pepper—"

Izzy jumped in surprise when she heard the semi-truck horn blast from the bridge followed by a loud noise. She hovered in the air and looked down in shock to see the pieces on the MARK 42 scattered on the freeway having been hit by the truck. "Really?" She said. She reached the speed boat in record time. "Didn't anyone teach you to look both ways crossing the street?" She said to Tony as she landed.

"You know what—" Tony's retort was cut off as JARVIS informed him of progress on his plan. "It's time."

Izzy felt a rush of excitement. "The House Party Protocol?" She asked.

He nodded. "Were you able to place the tracker?" He asked.

"No." She said. "But I think I know where he's taking the president and where Pepper is. Remember two years ago the Roxxon Norco oil rig dumped out all that oil and the President we accused of helping cover it up? Killian is making statements, this would be a big one and it's not far from here."

"Good work." Tony said proudly.

Izzy's hunch was right. They were at the now decommissioned oil rig, the President in the Iron Patriot armor strung up high in the middle of the whole thing. Izzy scouted high in the sky to see what they were dealing with while Tony and Rhodey snuck in.

"There are multiple hostiles." Izzy said. "I'm reading a dozen Extremis heat signatures at minimum and there are a few that I can't identify."

"I'd kill for some armor right now." Rhodey said.

"We need back up." Tony said.

"Yeah, a lot of back up." Rhodey said.

As he said that, there was another reading on her display. Izzy looked up and smiled as she saw the most beautiful sight in the world.

"Is that?" Rhodey asked.

"Yep." Tony said. "Merry Christmas buddy."

The suits all lined up, encircling the whole complex. Over 40 different suits.

"JARVIS, target Extremis heat signatures." Tony said. "Disable with extreme prejudice."

"Yes sir." The suits all responded at once.

"What are you waiting for?" Tony said. "It's Christmas. Take 'em to church."

Izzy watched from above for a moment. Some of the suits were her designs that she was very proud of, her favorite was Igor though. She smiled as she watched him steady the damaged main pillar. He was a base design for something much more incredible that they were working on.

"Izzy." Tony said.

"Coming." She replied and flew down to them.

One of the suits was landing as she did, JARVIS had located Pepper, Tony was going to get her.

"Uncle Rhodey." Izzy said. "Come on, we've gotta get your suit."

She didn't give him a chance to reply as they blasted into the air, heading to the Iron Patriot armor. The one thing she had been instructed to absolutely not do was engage with the Extremis soldiers. Someone didn't tell them that one of them jumped and ripped them out of the air. She lost her hold on Rhodey, but he landed safely and close to the President. Izzy rolled quickly and threw the Extremis soldier off and blasted a hole through him.

"Alright." She muttered. "Let's play."


	35. Chapter 35

**I'm back! It's been like two weeks and they have been crazy ones. Lots of school and one very nasty illness has kept me hostage from trying to write anything on this story. I am just going to wrap IM3 up quickly and we can finally start progressing more. Thank you all so much for your patience and I will answer the question I have been asked a lot lately.**

 **As always please review :)**

* * *

The Extremis soldiers were fast. Izzy found herself dedicating a lot of time to just staying out of their grasp; unlike Tony, she only had the one suit and couldn't change it out if it got damaged. She did her best to keep the soldiers away from Rhodey while he worked on saving the president.

As she fought, she listened to JARVIS give her updates on what was going on with Tony. He had gotten to Pepper but was currently being held up by Killian.

Izzy took out another soldier and spun to avoid another when there was a horrible sound of metal groaning. She glanced up to see that Pepper had fallen through a hole in the floor of the suspended office and she was now hanging precariously on the edge over a sea of flames beneath her.

"Pepper!" Izzy called.

She didn't have time to think. Rhodey was getting trapped by two Extremis soldiers, he needed her help. Tony was heading to Pepper, so she was going to have to leave it for now. "Hang on Rhodey, I'm coming." She said as she targeted the two soldiers.

Right before the soldiers could get to Rhodey, she blasted them off the crate and Rhodey was able to get to the President.

"Tony the President is secure." Rhodey said. "I'm clearing the area."

"Izzy, you go with him." Tony said.

"No chance." She replied as she circled back to help get to Pepper.

Tony didn't have time to reply, he was on a walkway close to Pepper. He was reaching out. "Honey, I can't reach any further and you can't stay there." Tony said. "Let go, I'll catch you."

Pepper nodded and just as she was letting go, the whole structure started to buckle, and she lost her grip, falling just out of reach of Tony's hand.  
"No!" Tony cried.

"Pepper!" Izzy went in to a nose dive to try and catch up to her.

She wasn't fast enough, and Pepper disappeared from sight in the fire and rubble. Izzy felt her heart sink, until she was knocked to the side by an Extremis soldier that got their arms around her. Izzy tried frantically to break the hold, but she only had enough time to eject before the soldier blew along with the suit. Thankfully she was close enough to the ground that she didn't die, but she felt a snap in her arm just before she hit her head and blacked out.

She came to quickly enough to the sound of another explosion. See the massive structure come crashing down towards her was enough to wake her up. Ignoring the pain in her arm, she rolled out of the way to avoid being impaled or crushed.

Tony crash landed nearby, pieces of the MARK 28 still clinging to him and the rest of the suit falling in chunks around him.

Using her good arm, Izzy pushed herself up and stumbled over to him, falling to her knees. "Dad," She said pulling at his arm. "Are you okay?"

He didn't reply right away as the helmet for the MARK 42 landed nearby. Tony looked at it for a long moment like he expected Killian's head to be inside of it. As the mask opened and revealed nothing, Tony sighed.

Izzy looked at the helmet and then looked a little further past it and noticed a form standing up inside the fire burning across the floor from them. "Dad," She said voicing rising in pitch.

Tony pushed her behind him, both stumbling back, both hurt as they watched Killian, body on fire, walking towards them looking a little more than crazed.

"No more false faces." Killian said. "You said you wanted the Mandarin? You're looking right at him. It was always me Tony. Right from the start."

 _No shit._ Izzy thought blandly.

"I am the Mandarin!" Killian said loudly.

Before anyone could reply, Killian was knocked backwards by something. Both looked over to see Pepper standing there, holding a massive metal bar, eyes red, Extremis glowing under her skin.

Izzy's mouth dropped in shock as she looked at her.

Tony stared in shocked silence for a moment. When Pepper looked at him, he shook his head. "I got nothin'." He said.

As they stared at each other, one of the suits flew in, targeting Pepper and Killian. They all looked up at the incoming suit.

"JARVIS, subject at my 12 o'clock is not a hostile." Tony said. "Disengage!" Tony touched his ear, but the communicator had fallen out, JARVIS didn't hear him.

It took a shot at Pepper, but she dodged it. She jumped up in to the air, punching a hand through the suit's chest, bringing it down. She got the gauntlet over her right arm and knocked Killian away.

"Whoa!" Izzy said watching as Pepper kicked a missile from the suit at Killian and fired a repulsor shot at it, blowing Killian to pieces.

Tony got to his feet, limping a little on his left leg. Izzy stood up carefully, pulling her right arm, which was broken, close.

"Honey." Tony said carefully to Pepper as he put the communicator back in his ear.

Pepper looked back in shock, eyes no longer red. "Oh my god…" She muttered. "That was really violent."

"You scared the devil out of me." Tony said. "I thought you were—"

"I was dead?" Pepper said. "Why because I fell 200 feet?"

Tony opened his mouth but couldn't quite formulate a response.

"Who's the hot mess now?" Pepper asked him.

"Still debatable." Tony replied. "Might be tipping your way a little bit. Why don't you dress like this at home?" He nodded towards the black leggings and sports bra.

"You know I think I understand why you don't want to give up your suits." Pepper said looking down. "What am I going to complain about now?"

Tony moved towards her slowly, Izzy observing quietly. "It's me." He said. "You'll think of something."

Pepper smiled, but it disappeared as Tony reached for her. "No don't touch me." She said. "I'm going to burn you."

Tony touched her arms anyway. "No, you're not." He said. "See? Not hot."

"Am I going to be okay?" Pepper asked.

"No." Tony said and then quipped. "You're in a relationship with me, everything will never be okay."

Pepper looked down.

"But I think I can figure this out." Tony said. Pepper looked up. "I almost had this 13 years ago when I was drunk. I think I can get you better. It's what I do, I fix things."

"And all your distractions?" Pepper asked.

"I'm going to shave them down a little bit." Tony said. Tony tapped on the communication. "JARVIS, hey…"

"All wrapped up here sir." JARVIS said. "Will there be anything else?"

"You know what to do." Tony said.

Izzy looked up at him in surprise.

"The Clean Slate Protocol, sir?" JARVIS said in surprise.

"Screw it, it's Christmas." Tony said. "Yes."

He pulled Pepper and Izzy into a hug. Pepper looked up and smiled as she watched the remaining suits detonate.

Izzy sat cross-legged on her hotel bed, picking at the outside of her bright pink cast while she looked at the data on Extremis that Maya had given them before she died. They had been taken back to Washington DC, the Vice President, Trevor Slattery, and anyone left from the Mandarin operation had been taken in to custody. They had been instructed to stay close and not talk to the press about anything. Not that they would anyways.

Thanks to Rhodey, and the President himself, it was agreed that there would be no official announcement about the "Iron Maiden", so Izzy could remain in the background for a while longer.

Tony knocked on the door and walked in to the suite bedroom. "Hey peanut." He said sitting on the bed. "How's the arm feeling?"

"Good." She said looking at it. The cast covered her hand except for her fingers and went up her arm, stopping at the elbow. Her wrist was broken, and her radius snapped in two places, so she was going to be in the cast for a good minute with a lot of physical therapy afterwards. It was worth it though. It was just her dominant hand, so it would be annoying.

Tony looked at her, his eyes changing in a look she had never seen before. "We need to talk." He said taking her tablet and moving it aside.

Izzy sit up straighter and looked at him. "About Maya Hansen?" She asked. She had been expecting this for days.

Tony nodded.

"She was my mother." Izzy said simply, it wasn't a question.

Tony sighed. "You need to know that she was never a bad person." He said. "She made a lot of choices for science, one's that she believed would make the world a better place."

"I'm not angry at her." Izzy said. "I just don't know how to feel sad over her death when she died a stranger to me."

"She died trying to do the right thing. That is something important to consider." He said. Izzy blinked but didn't reply; Tony sighed. "When Maya called me and asked to meet me to meet her in Berlin," He said. "I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect for her to place this squirming infant in my arms. But she gave me the greatest possible gift…"

"Dad…" Izzy said rolling her eyes at the cheesiness.

Tony smiled. "I know it's not something you feel ready to think about now, but if you ever want to talk about the kind of person Maya really was, we can talk any time." He said brushing a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

He kissed her forehead and left her alone.

They were able to find a way to fix Pepper and get Extremis out of her, but Tony decided that he was ready to fix something else. He was going to get the shards of metal removed from his chest, they had a way to create the necessary equipment now.

Izzy stood with Pepper and Rhodey on the other side of the window looking in to the operating room. Tony gave them the thumbs up as they put him under anesthesia. Izzy smiled bravely as she watched him drift off to unconsciousness.

Pepper wrapped her arms around Izzy, holding her close as they stood there.

They moved to the chairs in the back of the room they occupied, Pepper and Izzy sitting while Rhodey went to get some coffee.

"Tony told me about Maya…" Pepper said after a minute. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Izzy shrugged. "It won't change anything." She replied.

Pepper let them slip back in to silence. After a while, Izzy leaned against Pepper, tired. Pepper put her arm around her, holding close.

"…You know, I actually figured it out about a year ago…" Izzy said after a minute.

Pepper looked at her. "Why didn't you say anything." She asked.

Izzy shrugged one shoulder. "I decided it didn't matter." She said. "We share DNA, but she wasn't my mom." Izzy glanced up at Pepper and looked back down again. "That was the role I always thought of you for…"

Tears welled up in Pepper's eyes as she heard that. She smiled and hugged Izzy tightly.

Izzy stood at the edge of the remaining foundation of the Malibu house, staring out at the ocean as Tony tossed the arch reactor into the water below them.

"Ready?" Tony asked.

Izzy looked up and smiled. "Yep." She said as they walked back to the car.

Tony hugged her as they walked, and it still startled her to not feel the arch reactor anymore. However, it was a good start towards a new future.

Tony had rigged a trailer to the Audi sports car and the remains of DUM-E was strapped securely to it for the drive. Things had been crazy and there was a lot to consider as they moved forward.

The New York building was the perfect place to rebuild what they needed. They were going to work closer with Bruce and it was a good time to revisit the possibility of the Avengers 2.0.


	36. Chapter 36

**Hi all! So I debated with myself for awhile before I wrote this chapter. I want to make Izzy more involved in the story but I don't want to just have her be everywhere, however, this was fun to write. Hope you guys like the chapter, we are in Thor 2 right now. I haven't decided if she will be involved in the Winter Soldier storyline yet so bare with me.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy frustratedly brushed a lock of hair out of her face with her left hand. The cast was supposed to come off in one week when she got back to New York but for now it was only getting in the way, especially in London's never-ending dampness. The only bright side of the trip so far was Johnny and Sue agreeing to come along. They had been helping her with research and experiments all week.

"Want some help?"

Izzy looked up at Sue, who had been patiently helping her do her hair all week. "I don't _want_ help." Izzy replied with a pout.

Sue smiled and just walked over, quickly tying Izzy's hair back in a braid.

Izzy had been monitoring weird energy surges with Bruce. They were happening all over the world, so she had asked to come to London where Dr. Selvig was working with Jane Foster but Selvig had disappeared. Jane was surprisingly unhelpful, still moping about Thor being gone. However, Jane had disappeared now too, but Izzy gathered that she was probably on Asgard because Thor had come back briefly.

As they were finishing up getting ready, there was a knock on the door. Johnny poked his head inside. "You guys ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." Izzy said grabbing her backpack and putting it over one shoulder.

"I just got off the phone with Darcy." Johnny said. "She said they found Dr. Selvig…he's at a mental institution."

"Well he was terrorizing people at Stonehenge." Sue commented.

Izzy pulled on a well-worn Washington Nationals baseball cap. "Come on."

They got to Jane's mom's house where Darcy and her intern Ian had brought Dr. Selvig. When they walked in, they were greeted by a slightly stressed out Darcy and they instantly noticed that Dr. Selvig wasn't wearing pants.

"Still not the weirdest thing I've seen." Izzy muttered as they hung up their jackets.

"Miss. Stark," Dr. Selvig said standing and moving around the table. "It's so good that you're here."

Izzy held up a hand. "Nuh-uh." She said. "I like you Dr. Selvig, but you just stay on the other side of the table and we'll be fine."

Sue set up her laptop and Johnny started working on the equipment that Jane had.

"Tell me what you know Doctor." Izzy said sitting at the table, pulling out her tablet.

There were anomalies that were happening at new spots all over London and they were getting worse. Weird things that defied the laws of physics, and spots were gravity didn't seem to apply. Izzy was updating Bruce as she worked as well.

After about an hour, the door opened, and Jane walked through followed by Thor.

"Jane!" Darcy said. "You can't just leave like that! The whole world is going crazy. All that stuff we saw, it's spreading."

"Thor…" Izzy said walking over and giving him a hug. "Glad you're back."

"Isabel I'm glad to see that you are well." Thor said. "Heimdall informed me of your new suit. You may be needed if I can't stop this."

"I'm here to help." Izzy replied immediately.

Johnny looked up. "Suit? What suit?" He asked.

Sue looked up as she heard her brother's question.

Izzy winced. "Nothing." She said. She hadn't actually told either of them about the suit, she was under strict instruction not to even think about it without Tony's permission but if Thor needed help to save the world then she would have to use it.

"Erik?" Jane said looking at the scientist.

"Jane!" Selvig hugged Jane. "You've been to Asgard."

"Where are your pants?" Jane asked.

Ian spoke up. "He says it helps him think."

"Okay." Jane said. "Well 'm going to need everything you got on this. All the work you've been doing on gravimetric anomalies, everything."

"Dr. Foster, it isn't as much as Dr. Selvig has," Izzy said walking over. "But we've been monitoring anomalies like these in America and in other locations as well."

"Are you well Erik?" Thor asked.

Selvig laughed but then sobered quickly. "Your brother's not coming, is he?" He asked nervously.

"Loki is dead." Thor said quietly.

Izzy looked up at Thor.

"Oh, thank god." Selvig said.

Thor frowned.

"I mean I'm so sorry." Selvig corrected himself.

Izzy walked over and gave him another hug. "I'm so sorry Thor." She said.

Thor smiled faintly, nothing close to the blinding smiles she had seen from him before. "Thank you."

They all gathered around the table, maps and data spread out around them. Thor had caught them up on the Dark Elves and the Aether so they at least knew what they were facing.

Jane stared at the map. "Malekith is going to fire the Aether at a spot where all the nine worlds are connecting." She said.

"Amplifying the weapon's impact." Selvig said. "For each additional world, the power will increase exponentially. The effect would be universal."

"But the Alignment is only temporary." Thor said. "He must be in exactly the right place at the right time."

"Well how do we know where that is?" Darcy asked.

Selvig looked up, a light in his eyes. "We follow the directions." He said going over to a bookshelf. "This has happened before thousands of years ago, and the Ancients were there to see it."

Sue seemed to realize where he was going with this. "All the great constructions." She said and Selvig nodded. "The Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians, they must have made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence."

"And they left us a map." Selvig said. "Stonehenge, Snowdon, the Great Orme, these are all coordinates leading us to…" He drew on the map and they all looked at the focal point.

"Greenwich?" Ian said.

"The walls between worlds will be almost non-existent." Jane said. "Physics is going to go ballistic. Increases and decreases in gravity, spatial extrusions. The very fabric of reality is going to be torn apart."

"I better get my pants." Selvig said.

While Jane and the others got ready to leave, getting the needed equipment, Izzy looked at Johnny and Sue. "You guys need to stay here." She said.

"What?" Johnny said. "This is way too cool."

"This is not a game Johnny." Izzy said firmly. "This isn't about research, or an adventure. You could get killed."

"You're going." Sue said in her typical soft voice.

Izzy sighed. "I have to go." She said. "I can help them; you guys need to stay here and monitor the energy levels. Tell me where things are going crazy, so we can run damage control."

"Be careful." Sue said hugging her.

Izzy returned the hug and hugged Johnny as well.

Grabbing her backpack, she unzipped it and pulled out a red and gold box.

"You've had that this whole time?" Johnny said.

"Sorry." Izzy said sheepishly.

Stepping on the box, it unfolded for her to stand on with both feet and her friends watched slack jawed as the suit began to encase her body. When the helmet closed around her head and the HUD activated, she looked at Thor, trying to ignore the shocked looks of Jane and the others, he motioned that they had to leave.

Once outside, Thor looked at her. "Keep the Dark Elves away from civilians as best you can but be careful." Thor instructed before he took flight.

Izzy activated her thrusters and shot into the air after him. She had been in the suit for all of 5 minutes when her communicator activated without her permission, connecting a call.

"What are you doing in the suit?" Tony's voice filled her helmet and a tiny screen appeared with a video chat.

"Wow, that video is really distracting when you are flying." Izzy said. "I don't know how you do it."

"I'm not going to ask again Izzy." Tony said firmly.

Izzy cleared her throat nervously. "So, Thor is back and there are these things called the Dark Elves that are from this place called Svartalfheim that are attacking London to take advantage of this thing called the Convergence which happens every so often causing these weird gravitational abnormalities, to try and destroy all these worlds including Earth with this thing called the Aether.." She said. "Thor needs help with crowd control and I'm closest. Please don't be angry."

Tony blinked and had to take a second to absorb all of that. "Izzy turn around right now. I will be there soon." He said.

"It'll be too late by the time you get here." Izzy said. "Dad I need to go, I can see the Elves."

"Isabel Maria Stark!"

She disconnected the call before he could continue. She was already in trouble, she didn't want to hear it while she was fighting these things.

"Hey J?" Izzy said as she flew in blasting two Elves that were about to attack some people.

"Yes Miss?" JARVIS replied promptly.

"Can you connect me to Sue and Johnny?" She asked. "And I need you to monitor military channels. I need to know if they send in air support or soldiers, so I can reroute civilians."

"Right away Miss." The AI replied.

"Zee, you okay?" Johnny asked.

Izzy grunted as she was knocked to the side by one Elf, but she blasted him into a wall in return. "Awesome." She said. "How are things looking?"

"So far the anomalies are being contained in Greenwich." Sue said. "Do you think Dr. Selvig's devices will work?"

"I hope so." Izzy replied.

A fighter jet was sent in. The minute JARVIS alerted her, Izzy shot up to catch it, knowing that it was going to fail and crash.

It didn't go unnoticed how many people had their phones out, taking pictures or video of the suit, but her concern over the exposure vanished when Thor went into the Aether to kill Malekith. It was a tense moment before everything became still. The destruction remained, but Thor had done it, he had stopped Malekith.

 **In the interest of time…**

Izzy said goodbye to Johnny and Sue when they landed back in New York, there was a car waiting to take them back to their home. Happy was waiting with the car for her.

"On a scale of 1 to I'm never going to see the light of day again, how mad is he?" Izzy asked Happy as she walked over to the car.

Happy opened the car door and Tony stepped out. "How about you can say goodbye to the suit." Tony replied to her question.

"Is it too late to run?" Izzy asked.

"Yes." Tony said motioning for her to get in the car while Happy loaded up her bags. "Pepper is not happy about doing press damage control."

"And you?" Izzy asked looking up at him before she got in the car.

"I'm not happy." Tony said sternly. His expression softened after a minute and he pulled her into a tight hug. "But I am glad you're okay."

Izzy returned the hug and they got in the car to head back to the Tower.


	37. Chapter 37

**Hey guys, here is another chapter. I have finals this week so I'm most likely not going to update until the weekend. However, next chapter we start Avengers 2! I think you guys can understand why I'm skipping GoTG VOL. 1. Anyways, I had this idea rattling around in my head so I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy flexed her wrist subconsciously. She was nearly a year out of her cast and three months past her last day of physical therapy, but it still caused her pain if she was still too long, which was normally every time she was in the lab. Today she had been working on upgrades for the MARK IV of her suit. When Tony took away the last one, he banned her from using the suit until she was done with physical therapy, then she got a little too sassy over some small thing and Tony extended it another 3 months. She was anxious to get back to flying again.

The only thing that had kept her sane while being grounded was school and the times the other Avengers would come over. Most of them came to watch her graduate from MIT and they popped in every few weeks or so which was fun. She had a nine-month long game of battleship going with Clint and Natasha was teaching her self defense. Bruce was always around to run ideas with when she or Tony needed help. The only one Izzy really hadn't connected with yet was Steve. She didn't know what it was, but she could swear that he just didn't like her.

Natasha told her that Steve felt out of place, which she figured, but why did it seem like his problem was with her?

Her phone rang as she was putting her tools away. It was Natasha. "Hello?" She said confused, she thought Natasha was on a mission.

 _"Hey kid, are you busy?"_ Natasha sounded relaxed but there was a clipped way that she spoke that alerted Izzy to trouble.

"I always have time for you Nat." Izzy replied lightly but her mind was switching gears for whatever was coming next.

 _"How quickly can you get me some information from SHIELD?"_ Natasha asked.

"I'm guessing there is a good reason you can't get it yourself?" Izzy asked.

 _"There is. Not a lot of time to discuss it though."_ Natasha replied.

Izzy grabbed her tablet and propped it up. "What do you need from me?" She asked shifting the phone to hold it against her ear with her shoulder.

 _"What can you tell me about Jasper Sitwell's recent comings and goings?"_ Natasha asked. _"Possibly where he is right now."_

"One second." Izzy said hacking in quietly without tripping any alarms. "This guy globe hops a lot. What exactly am I looking for?"

 _"Anything that looks related to Hydra."_ Was that Steve?

"Captain, Hydra has been gone for a while." Izzy said. "You and your Howling Commandos made sure of that."

 _"No Isabel, they're still functioning."_ Natasha answered. _"We just found you too. You need to trust us on this."_

Izzy frowned as she switched gears for the files she was looking for if they were secret ones. What she found was pretty scary. "Oh my god. Nat all this stuff that SHIELD has been hiding. They're the new Hydra?" She said quietly.

 _"It's going to be okay."_ Natasha said. _"Can you send me a backdoor access to their servers? We may need it later."_

"Yeah of course." Izzy said. "Okay here we go. Looks like Sitwell is meeting with—holy crap!—Senator Stern today at 1:00pm in Washington DC. I'll send you the address of the meeting."

 _"Thanks kiddo I knew we could count on you."_ Natasha said.

"Should I go tell dad?" Izzy asked. "You might need backup for this."

 _"No, we've got it."_ Steve said quickly.

Izzy felt a flash of hurt at his clipped tone. "Okay…" She said softly. "Good luck."

When Natasha spoke her voice sounded closer, now off speaker phone. _"It's not you kid. It's been a stressful few days. Don't take it personally."_ She said.

"Sure." Izzy replied. "Be safe Nat."

Izzy was sitting in the living room area watching the news with Tony. The attack going on at SHIELD, the new Helicarriers that they were launching, that Steve and some others were desperately trying to stop. They would never be able to get there in time to help so they could only wait and hope that they succeeded.

Some of the designs for the Helicarriers had been their ideas after what happened when Loki attacked, however, if Hydra was SHIELD that meant there was a lot of technological designs they had just handed over to the enemy.

Izzy has stopped looking at her tablet. Natasha has dumped all of SHIELD/Hydra's files online and her tablet was lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Izzy tensed as the SHIELD HQ building began to collapse. Tony put an arm around her shoulders, but his face was grim as he watched.

After what felt like a lifetime, they watched the Helicarriers get taken out by their own weapon system. Steve and the others had done it.

Because of the massive shockwave that hit the world with the information about Hydra, Tony had to go to Washington DC to try to help calm things down. Izzy went along too though she didn't have much to do.

When they first arrived, they went to see Steve in the hospital, making all necessary arraignments to get him a private room and the floor sectioned off. While there, they met Sam Wilson, who had been helping Steve and Natasha.

"You were one of the EXO-7 pilots.?" Izzy asked recognizing him. "You and…Riley, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?" Sam asked.

"Because those were my prototype designs." Izzy replied proudly. "I wanted to know who was using them."

Sam was super cool, she really liked him. It was clear that he had a really caring heart but obviously was not afraid of the fight. Probably a good Avengers candidate.

One day, while Tony was working Izzy went to visit Peggy. It had been a while since she had been, and she felt horrible about it.

"Hi Nanna." Izzy said walking in with a smile. "I brought you some flowers."

Peggy was sitting up in bed, though she looked tired. She smiled as she saw Izzy though. "Thank you dear. They're lovely." She said as Izzy set the large vase full of calla lilies on the table top.

"How are you feeling?" Izzy asked pulling up a chair.

"I'm fine." Peggy said. "You look beautiful today."

Izzy smiled glancing at the Chanel sundress she was wearing. At 14 years old, her style was evolving. "That's my line." Izzy said taking Peggy's hand. "Do you feel up for a walk today?"

"Maybe later dear." Peggy said patting her hand.

She managed to convince Peggy to sit in her chair instead of just up in bed and Izzy brushed her hair out and curled it, humming a lullaby that Peggy had sung to her as a child.

A tiny sound caught Izzy's attention, without pausing in the song or brushing, Izzy looked up to see Steve in the doorway watching them with curious eyes.

Peggy hadn't noticed him yet. "That's such a pretty song. Where did you learn it?" Peggy asked.

Izzy's smile faltered a bit before returning. "You taught it to me Nanna. Remember? You used to sing to me all the time when I was little. We'd bake all day and you'd teach me songs." She said recalling some of the best memories of her childhood before Peggy got sick.

"That's right." Peggy said smiling faintly before picking up the melody.

Izzy noticed the faint smile on Steve's face as he listened. "Nanna, I have to go okay? But I'll be back tomorrow." She kissed Peggy's cheek and hugged her gently before grabbing her bag.

Steve had retreated into the hallway to speak with her.

"Hey." Izzy said. "I didn't know you were out of the hospital already. How are you feeling?"

"Fine thanks." Steve said. "I didn't know you knew Peggy."

Izzy nodded. "Yeah after Howard and Maria died, she kind of stepped in as grandparent and also helped give my dad advise on raising a little girl." She said. "We try to stop in whenever we're in DC."

Steve nodded.

"You know she would tell me stories about Captain America." Izzy offered. "But it wasn't about the missions, it was always about the kind, scrawny guy that had stood her up because he had to save the world." Steve smiled faintly at that. "She never stopped loving you."

"Thank you, Isabel." Steve said.

Izzy nodded. "Also, Natasha told me about the Winter Soldier. Any resources we can give towards finding and helping your friend let us know." She said.

Steve nodded, gratitude clear in his blue eyes.

"Go on." Izzy said starting to move past him. "I'm sure she'll light up when she sees you."

He smiled and went towards the room.

She paused. "And Steve?"

He stopped and looked back at her.

She smiled. "Whenever you're ready to start tracking down this Hydra stuff, you know where to find us."

Steve nodded once before disappearing into the room. Izzy smiled and walked out into the sunlight.


	38. Chapter 38

**Hi all. We are into Age of Ultron now! This should be a lot of fun. I played around with a few things. Hope you guys enjoy it. I'll try to have the next chapter up in a couple days.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy took a deep breath as she sat in the co-pilot seat of the quinjet. It had been a busy year tracking and cleaning up after Hydra. They were heading to Sokovia, a small country that was currently housing Baron von Strucker, a Hydra agent that had Loki's scepter.

In truth, Izzy was nervous. This was going to be her first real mission with the Avengers, she had only been participating in backup and support roles until now. However, today was too big and too important for her to stay behind.

As she reached up to make an altitude adjustment, she noticed a slight tremor in her hand. She clenched her fingers and returned her hand to the controls.

"It's normal to be nervous."

She looked over at Clint in the pilot seat, he smiled. She glanced back to make sure Tony wasn't listening. He was preoccupied with talking with Bruce. "I shouldn't be. I fought exploding people, this is— "

"Going to be different." Clint said. "These are going to hit home more because they aren't glowing and about to explode. It's okay kid. I'd be worried if you weren't nervous."

Izzy nodded.

"Who knows." Clint said. "We may not even need you or Bruce for this."

That was a laugh.

Izzy covered Clint and Natasha, who had stolen an enemy Jeep while taking out pockets of soldiers that Tony, Thor, and Steve missed in their advance. Hulk was just everywhere tearing things up.

Tony peeled off to go up to the castle/fortress on top of the hill. After a second, she heard a bang followed by Tony's exclamation of "shit!" as he bounced off a shield.

"Language." Cap said admonishingly. "JARVIS what's the view from upstairs?"

"Strucker's base appears to be surrounded by some sort of energy shield." JARVIS' voice filled their coms. He was watching over them from their personal satellite. "His weapons appear far more advanced than any Hydra base we've taken out so far."

"Loki's scepter must be here." Thor said. "Strucker couldn't mount his defense without it. At long last."

Izzy took out a watch tower and then a bunker before heading up to Tony to try to find a way through the barrier.

"At long last is lasting a little long boys." Natasha said.

"Yeah I think we lost the Element of surprise." Clint replied as he shot an arrow into a bunker.

Tony's amused voice came over coms next. "Wait a second. Is no one going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" He asked.

"I know." Steve said and Izzy could practically see the look on his face. There was an explosion as Steve threw his motorcycle into a Jeep with a turret. "It just slipped out."

"Sir, the city is taking fire." JARVIS said over Tony and Izzy's separate com.

"Strucker isn't going to worry about civilians getting caught in the crossfire." Tony said. "Send in the Iron Legion."

In this area the Avengers were not typically warmly received so it came as no surprise when Izzy saw the notification that one of the Legion was already damaged.

She was distracted as she heard Clint suddenly cry out like he was in pain.

"Clint!" Natasha said heading over to him.

Steve grunted as if he had been hit by something hard. "We have an enhanced in the field." He said.

"Clint's hit." Natasha said. She let out a noise of frustration. "Can somebody deal with that bunker?"

Before anyone could reply the Hulk roared and smashed through it.

"Thank you." Natasha said.

"Stark, we need to get inside." Steve said as he took out another small squad.

"I'm closing in." Tony said as he took out a few guards. "JARVIS am I…closing in? You see a power source for that shield?"

"There is a particle wave above the north tower." JARVIS replied.

"Great. I wanna poke it with something." Tony said. "Izzy follow me."

They took out guards as they went before flying up high, Izzy ripping a door off a Jeep on the way. JARVIS lit up a weak spot in their heads-up display for them to target. Izzy threw the door into the shield and blasted it twice with her repulors to weaken it and Tony immediately followed that with a missile that was able to go through the weakened shield and take out the generator.

"Drawbridge is down people." Tony announced as Izzy whooped in excitement.

"The enhanced?" Thor asked.

"He's a blur." Steve said. "With all the players we've faced, I've never seen anything like it. In fact, I still haven't."

Natasha spoke in a tense voice. "Clint's hit pretty bad guys. We're gonna need evac." She said.

"I can get Barton to the jet." Thor said Steve. "The sooner we get out of here the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."

"And for gosh sake," Tony said.

"Watch your language!" Tony and Izzy said at the same time.

Izzy smiled as Steve sighed. "That's not going away any time soon." He said.

Tony went in one direction while Izzy circled around the opposite side.

"Isabel, keep your distance. If you encounter hostiles just get out of there." Steve instructed as she mentioned her location.

"Got it Cap." Izzy replied as she knocked in a wall.

Looking around, her stomach clenched. "J start video recording." She said looking at bloody cells and what looked like medieval torture equipment. There were some computers along the wall, so she went closer. "JARVIS do your scanners pick up any heat signatures close by?"

"Everything I read is a floor above us Miss." JARVIS replied.

"Good." Izzy said. "Let me out."

"Miss you've been instructed to— "

"I know J but whatever they've been doing in here might explain the enhanced." Izzy said. "I need to get in to that system and it's too old to remotely hack. You'll have my back."

JARVIS, with all the hesitance the AI could muster, let her out of the suit switching it to sentry mode.

Getting in to the system was no trouble and she immediately began sending it to the Avengers servers. As she was reading through the files and briefly watching the videos, she began to feel sick to her stomach. Strucker was a monster.

The sound of one of the guard's energy guns charging made her tense and she turned to see a soldier aiming at her, noticed too late for JARVIS to save her. Izzy raised an arm on instinct and turned away from the gun. Suddenly, she felt her stomach drop like she was on a roller coaster and the shot fired missed her by a mile. She looked up to see a guy, a little older than her with shocks of white mixed in his brown hair standing next to her, now on the opposite side of the room from where she was. She watched her suit blast the guy who shot at her and then turned to them.

The guy glanced down at her and then disappeared in a blur.

"Miss I would suggest you get back in the suit." JARVIS said.

"Yep." Izzy said and quickly got back in the suit. "Where is dad?"

"He has found the scepter." JARVIS said. "Agent Romanoff is getting Dr. Banner and Thor has gotten Agent Barton to the jet. Captain Rogers has encountered a second enhanced, a female."

"Let's get out of here." She said.

She couldn't shake the uneasiness of her encounter with the enhanced. Yeah, he saved her from being shot, but the minute she locked eyes with him her heart began to pound like she knew she was in danger. Something wasn't right.

She found the hole in the wall that Tony made and found him coming out of a secret doorway with the scepter in hand. She frowned when she saw the grim look on his face and an almost manic look to his eyes.

"Dad, you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said. "Let's get back to the jet."

She followed him without question and although they had won the day, there was something that wasn't sitting right with her. Somehow it felt like they had lost.


	39. Chapter 39

**Here is another chapter. Trying to get this moving a little while throwing in a couple little pieces of my own. Let me know if you guys like it.**

 **As always, please** **review :)**

 **Note: I am not going to have the Natasha/Bruce romance, personally I hated it. Sorry if anyone was looking forward to that.**

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Once aboard the quinjet, Izzy quickly went to Clint and got an IV line started. She had gotten a lot of practice with first aid training over the last year helping to bandage everyone up. After she was done with Clint, she went over to Bruce, who was sitting in a corner and she gave him his headphones to listen to classical music so he could start to relax after the code green, and she sat with him for a second to make sure he was okay.

After that, she went up to the front to check with Tony, who was flying them out of there. She dropped in to the copilot chair that Natasha had just vacated.

"Dad, are you okay?" Izzy asked softly.

"Yeah." Tony replied a little too quickly.

Izzy just furrowed her brow and sat back. She grabbed her tablet that she had stashed just before they landed and brought up some of the data that she had managed to filter out before she had a gun pointed at her head.

"What is that?" Tony asked turning in his chair after putting the jet on autopilot.

"I was able to get this data from one of the separate servers in the basement." Izzy said. "It's the data on his illegal human experimentations involving the scepter. I forwarded it to Hill and she's looking through it for data on our enhanced."

"How did you get to that?" Tony asked, eyes narrowing. "The suits couldn't remotely hack into their old systems."

Izzy froze for a second and hesitantly looked up. "Okay, I know what you are going to say—"

"You stepped out of the suit." Tony said loudly.

"WHAT?!" A chorus of 5 other voices cried out behind her, making her jump.

Having six adults, including Clint who was very injured, all clamoring at her at once about how irresponsible it was for her to put herself in danger, etc. was enough to give her an immediate headache.

"But look at the data that I found." Izzy pleaded. "We can find out what Strucker did to these people and maybe figure out if the enhanced that we dealt with will be a future problem." Even as she said it, she thought of how the boy had saved her.

"You knew the conditions of you coming along." Tony said. "If you find something you call me, and I will take care of it."

"You were busy." Izzy said. "You found the scepter and a Leviathan in a secret lab. You couldn't leave that."

"You still disobeyed orders." Steve said walking forward. "What if you had gotten kidnapped? Or worse injured or killed?"

"I know." Izzy said not even mentioning the guard with the gun. She was already in enough trouble.

"You and I are going to have a long discussion about this later." Tony warned before turning back to the controls.

Izzy nodded in defeat. She got up and walked over to Clint, checking his dressing and IV.

"You know we're not mad at you right?" Clint said quietly looking at her downcast expression.

Izzy glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"Zee, some of us have known you since you were pretty small." Clint said. "It's terrifying to all of us, even those that haven't known you as long, to suddenly have you in an active battlefield where we can't completely protect you. I know how sick I would feel if I was in Tony's position."

That hit a note with her, especially knowing his secret. "You're right. I'm sorry." She said smiling faintly.

Clint gripped her hand gently before releasing it as she gave him a shot of pain killers in the IV.

Natasha was over by Bruce, trying to convince him that things were okay. They had figured out that the Other Guy seemed to be more comfortable around Izzy and Natasha, so they had devised a way to get the Hulk to calm down enough for Bruce to regain control again. Izzy had dubbed it a lullaby after a particularly interesting experience in South Korea.

"Thor, report on the Hulk." Natasha said.

 _Uh-oh._ Izzy thought.

"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor said in his typically boisterous way.

Izzy and Natasha both looked at him. Bruce put his head in his hands.

"But not the screams of the dead…" Thor stuttered to correct his mistake. "No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

Izzy tried really hard not to laugh as she watched this explanation go down.

"Dr. Banner," Tony called from the front. "Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce said.

Izzy smiled. Though he wouldn't get enough credit for it, she knew it was a subtle way that Tony had to distract Bruce from his concerns over the Hulk.

Tony turned the jet back onto autopilot and walked back to where Steve and Thor were standing by the scepter. Izzy walked over quietly and joined them. She hadn't seen the scepter for a couple years, it was different, seeing it now from how it looked when she was twelve and didn't know what it could do.

"Feels good, yeah?" Tony asked Thor. "I mean you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…"

Thor smiled. "No, but this…this brings it to a close." He said.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for." Steve said. "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"We'll give it a once over before it goes back to Asgard." Tony said. He looked at Thor. "If that's cool with you. Just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?"

"Yes, of course." Thor said. "A victory should be honored with revels."

Izzy smiled. She'd never get bored of the way Thor talked.

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels?" Tony said. "Captain?"

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra." Steve said. He smiled. "So yes, revels."

Tony nodded but as he looked away, Izzy noticed the smile slip from his face. Something was definitely wrong.

Once they landed at the new Avenger's Tower in New York, Clint was taken to the lab by Dr. Cho and her assistants with Bruce walking with them giving updates from the ride over and Natasha following to make sure Clint was okay. Thor took the scepter inside to Tony and Izzy's main lab. Izzy, Tony, and Steve wrapped up the last of what was needed in the jet.

"Labs all set up boss." Maria Hill said walking up the ramp into the jet.

It was still weird that she was working for Stark Industries after the fall of SHIELD. Izzy was still iffy on their interactions because while Hill was fun, she had moments where she would talk to Izzy with a condescending tone that sounded a lot like Fury. Hill was getting better, but Izzy still didn't interact with her much.

"Um…actually he's the boss." Tony said motioning to Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

"And you do that all yourself." Izzy remarked in a snarky tone.

"Hey, I haven't taken away your suit yet, but I still can." Tony playfully threatened as he walked past her.

Izzy smiled and began to follow but hung back as she heard Hill mention the enhanced to Steve. Izzy followed them as they left the jet.

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff." Hill said handing him a tablet. "Twins orphaned at age 10 when a shell collapsed their building. Sokovia has had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special."

"Their abilities?" Steve asked.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermo-homeostasis." Hill said. "Her thing is neuro-electric interfacing, telekinesis, and mental manipulation."

Steve looked up from the tablet needing a simpler explanation.

"He's fast and she's weird." Izzy supplied.

Steve nodded. "Well they're going to show up again." He said handing the tablet to Hill.

"Agreed." Hill said. "Their files said they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."

Izzy frowned slightly at that.

"Right." Steve said as he stepped in to the elevator. "What sort of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

Izzy bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling as she stepped into the elevator with Steve.

"We're not at war Captain." Hill said.

"They are." Steve replied as the doors shut.

Izzy stares at Steve for a minute as they rode the elevator in silence.

"What?" Steve finally asked looking at her.

"Do you regret it?" She asked. "Letting a German scientist experiment on you to protect your country?"

Steve smiled faintly. Not for a second."


	40. Chapter 40

**So I've been bitten by the writing bug at the moment. I don't know how long it will last but have another chapter lol. Thank you to everyone who has read the story and has continued on with me. A special thanks to those that review as well, all the questions I get will be answered soon I just don't want to spoil the story in the future as well so please be patient. Thank you everyone again!**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

It was too crowded in the lab where Clint was so Izzy sat at her work station in the main lab and made sure that everything was set up with the scepter while she waited for Tony. Bruce had donned his white lab coat and was getting a few things to take to Dr. Cho.

"How are you feeling?" Izzy asked looking up from her screen as he walked by.

"Better, thanks." Bruce said.

"Do you think it's getting easier with the lullaby?" She asked moving around the desk and leaning against it.

Bruce thought about it. "I think so." He said cautiously. "I'd still prefer that it wasn't needed at all."

Izzy smiled faintly. "I know." She said. "But just remember you aren't. alone anymore. Teams help each other."

Bruce smiled and nodded before heading towards the stairs that lead to his lab. Tony came down the stairs at the same as he was heading up. "How's he doing?" Bruce asked.

"Unfortunately, he's still Barton." Tony said dramatically.

"That's terrible." Bruce said playing along.

Izzy rolled her eyes at both of them.

"He's fine. He's thirsty." Tony said. He walked over towards Izzy and the scepter. "Alright, look alive JARVIS. It's playtime."

Izzy pushed off the table, twisting her hair up into a messy bun as she followed Tony.

"We only got a couple days with this joystick so let's make the most of it." Tony said. "Update me on the structural and compositional analysis."

"The scepter is alien." JARVIS said. "There are elements I can't quantify."

"So, there are elements you can?" Izzy asked.

JARVIS sounded contemplative. "The jewel appears to be a protecting housing for something inside. Something powerful." The AI said.

"Like a reactor?" Tony asked as he poured a green drink from the blender in the lab for Clint.

"Like a computer." JARVIS clarified. "I believe I'm deciphering code."

Izzy tilted her head curiously as she stared at the scepter. JARVIS was going to continue working on it, so she decided to check in and see how Clint was doing. Racing up the steps she walked in to see Dr. Cho's system working on Clint's side.

"Are you sure he's going to be alright?" Natasha asked. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."

Clint grinned at Natasha's playful jab. He glanced up as Izzy walked over.

"There's no possibility for deterioration." Dr. Cho said. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know that they're bonding with simulacra."

"She's creating tissue." Bruce said, an excited smile on his face.

Dr. Cho had been one of the greatest contacts they had made when they were in South Korea and she was always there to help the Avengers when they needed medical care.

"If you brought him to my lab the regeneration cradle could do this in twenty minutes." Dr. Cho said.

"He's flatlining." Tony said walking in. "Call it. Time?"

"No, no, no, I'm going to live forever." Clint said. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."

Dr. Cho smiled. "You'll be made of you Mr. Barton." She said. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"I don't have a girlfriend." Clint said taking a sip of his drink that Tony handed him.

"That I can't fix." Dr. Cho said. She looked up. "This is the next thing Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust."

"That is exactly the plan." Tony replied with a smile. "And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday."

"Unlike you I don't have a lot of time for parties." Dr. Cho said. She paused. "Will Thor be there?"

Izzy and Tony began working on the analysis of the scepter fairly early. There was a lot to go through and Bruce was helping Dr. Cho, so they had to begin without him.

"Look at this." Izzy said in awe as she read through the data analysis. Looking at the projection of what the crystal was capable of, her eyes widened. "This is incredible."

"J, call Bruce." Tony said as he looked at the screen as he stood next to Izzy. "We're going to need him."

As they were finishing up the initial analysis, Bruce walked in. "What's the rumpus?" He asked.

Tony looked up. "Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So we've been analyzing the gem inside. You may recognize..." With a flick of his all in one device, Tony brought up an orange spherical hologram that they all knew well.

"Jarvis." Bruce greeted.

JARVIS replied. "Doctor."

"Started out, Jarvis was just a natural language UI." Tony said.

"Now he runs the Iron Legion." Izzy chimed in.

"He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper." Tony said. "Top of the line."

Bruce nodded. "Yes." He agreed, waiting for the point.

"I suspect not for long." JARVIS said.

Izzy held up her device, pulling the scan from the scepter. "Meet the competition." She said.

Bruce stared in awe at this almost living, moving shape. "It's beautiful." He said.

"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" Tony said.

"Like it's thinking." Bruce said instantly walking around it, analyzing it seriously. "I mean, this could be...It's not a human mind. I mean, look at this. They're like neurons firing."

Izzy could see that excitement surfacing, one that only people like her or Tony or another scientist could understand when you've found something incredible.

"Down in Strucker's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work." Tony said. "They deep-sixed the data, but...I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."

Bruce looked up at him. "Artificial intelligence." He said.

"This could be it, Bruce." Tony said. "This could be the key to creating Ultron."

"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bruce said.

"Yesterday it was." Izzy said getting up from her chair. "If we can harness this power, apply it to the Iron Legion protocol?"

"That's a man-sized 'if'." Bruce said.

Tony shook his head. "Our job is 'if.' What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach, turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica." He said.

Bruce gave him a sideways look. "Don't hate. I helped design Veronica." He said.

"As a worst-case measure, right?" Tony said. "How about a best case? What if the world was safe? What if, next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?"

"The only people threatening the planet would be people." Bruce said.

"I want to apply this to the Ultron program." Tony said. "But Jarvis can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here. That's three days. Give me three days."

"So, you're going for artificial intelligence, and you don't want to tell the team?" Bruce said hesitantly.

Izzy glanced at Tony. She was hesitant about his plan too though she was curious about Ultron's possibilities.

"Right. That's right." Tony said but continued before Bruce could say anything. "You know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear "the man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." Bruce said softly.

Tony paused. "I've seen colder." He said. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Ultron." He was wistful as he spoke next. "Peace in our time. Imagine that."

It was three days of frustration. They were hardly ever not in the lab, just occasionally when someone forced them out in order to eat. Mainly the three of them survived on coffee and stubbornness. However, all of their attempts ended in failure.

Finally, at the end of the third day, Izzy stood next to Tony in the lab, dressed in a long-sleeved red lace sequined sheath party dress, her raven hair braided over her shoulder loosely. Tony wasn't dressed yet for the party.

"What did we miss?" Tony asked quietly as Izzy put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll continue to run variations on the interface." JARVIS said. "But you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments."

"Thanks, buddy." Tony said.

"Enjoy yourself, sir." JARVIS replied.

"I always do." Tony said as the lights dimmed following their exit.


	41. Chapter 41

**Ta-da! Another chapter. I hope you guys like it, I needed a chapter to set up something for Fantastic Four, which came out the same year as Age of Ultron did so sorry we didn't get as far as I would have hoped.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy watched as people began to arrive for the party. There were some WWII vets that Steve knew and had invited, she always liked when they came, they had amazing stories and they were a wry bunch. Sam arrived and they talked for a bit until Izzy saw Rhodey walk in.

"Uncle Rhodey!" She said giving him a hug. She hadn't seen him in months because of how crazy everything had been. He had been working as hard as them with the Hydra cleanup since it had infiltrated the military too.

"Oh my god!" Rhodey said looking at her, holding one hand. She looked down at herself in alarm wondering if her dress had torn or something. "You're in heels! Last time I saw you, you lived in your converse. You are not allowed to continue growing up."

She rolled her eyes as Sam and Steve laughed.

Tony, having overheard, picked that moment to come over. "Can you believe my baby is going to be 16-years-old in a few months?!" He said in the most dramatic way possible, putting an arm around her.

"You're gonna be blasting the boys away with the suit soon." Natasha chimed in.

"Oh my god…" Izzy said turning as red as her dress. "Can we stop with this topic?"

They all laughed, even Izzy laughed after a second.

Izzy walked around the party socializing for a while, but finally she ended up outside on the balcony looking for a minute to herself and some fresh air. Clint caught her eye as she walked out, he furrowed his brow in question. She nodded with a smile that she was okay and continued outside. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a second and just listened to the sounds of the City that Never Sleeps.

"Wow!" A voice said behind her. "Red is definitely your color."

She spun around to see a smiling Johnny and Sue Storm. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked grinning as they joined her.

"JARVIS sent the invite for the party." Johnny said.

Izzy smiled as she noticed their outfits. The three were normally never not in casual clothes around each other so seeing Sue in a pale blue dress and Johnny in slacks and a button up was odd. However, one specific thing caught her attention and she immediately frowned.

"What happened to your arm?" Izzy asked Johnny.

Johnny looked down at the sling and cast on his right arm. "It's nothing." He tried to shrug it off.

"Where you racing again?" Izzy demanded.

"No." Johnny said, at the same moment Sue said, "Yes."

Johnny gave his sister a look of betrayal. "It's nothing." He said.

"When are you going to come work for Stark Industries?" Izzy asked. "You can put your engineering skills to use instead of just living a quarter mile at a time."

"Doesn't matter anyway." Johnny said. "Dad took my car away until we're done with his latest project anyways."

Sue shook her head. Izzy frowned.

Johnny had always clashed with his father more, wanting to do things his own way while Franklin Storm wanted his son to follow him on projects. Sue was a little more of a favorite because she shared the same mentality as Mr. Storm, but she and Johnny were still close. Johnny resented his dad, not his sister.

"What is this project?" Izzy asked.

"It's his Quantum Gate project." Johnny said. "Apparently he found some guy that made an unintentional breakthrough."

"Really Johnny?" Sue asked.

"Don't worry, we have no interest in the project." Izzy said referring to Stark Industries. "Mainly because it's nuts, there is a reason my dad turned down the offer to be partners in the project. A hole opened up 300 feet above us and you want to open one on ground level? No thanks."

Izzy had never hidden her thoughts on the project from her friends and while Johnny had been more on her side, she and Sue had gotten into some heated debates about the project.

"Besides, I thought you guys were done after that guy from…where was it again?" Izzy asked.

"Latveria." Sue said.

"Sounds made up." Izzy commented.

Johnny snickered.

"And for your information, Victor is back." Sue said.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Great…" She said flatly.

"The potential for what we could learn about our own planet's history is immeasurable." Sue said. "You don't have to like the project. Just respect that we're doing it okay?"

"Alright." Izzy said. "You have my number if hostile aliens come charging through your gate."

And just like that, they were on good terms again. The three went back inside to join the party.

After a few hours, Izzy said goodbye to Johnny and Sue and the last of the guests filtered out. The Avengers, plus Rhodey, Hill and Dr. Cho were left sitting together in a circle of sofas and chairs that they had pushed together, drinking and laughing as they ate leftover Chinese food from yesterday.

Somehow, they had gotten on the topic of how Thor's hammer worked and the spell that Odin had put on it.

"It's a trick." Clint said.

"No, no, it's much more than that." Thor said.

"Oh, whoever be he worthy shall haveth the power." Clint mocked. "Whatever man, it's a trick."

Thor laughed. "Please." He said motioning to the hammer. "Be my guest."

Clint stared at him for a second. "Really?" He said. He stood up.

Izzy pulled her carton of food back as Clint stepped over her legs. She was sitting on the floor in front of Natasha's chair, her heels long since discarded.

"Clint, you've had a tough week." Tony said. "We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint said looking at Thor. He laughed as he tried to lift the hammer and couldn't. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Note the silent judgement." Tony said.

"Please." Clint said to Tony. "Stark, by all means."

Tony put down his beer and stood up, opening his suit jacket.

"Okay." Rhodey said.

"Here we go." Izzy grinned.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony said. "So, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"

Thor nodded. "Yes, of course." He said.

Tony tried to lift it for a second. "Be right back." He said. When he came back, he had one of the gauntlets from the Iron Man suit. It still didn't work.

This evolved into Tony and Rhodey trying together. Bruce tried it but mainly for fun. After a second, Steve stood up. He walked over, rolling back his sleeves.

"Come on Cap." Izzy said.

When he pulled the first time, Izzy could have sworn that she heard a squeak, like the hammer had moved slightly, but the second time there was no movement and Steve gracefully conceded.

Everyone looked at Natasha.

"Widow?" Tony asked.

"Oh, no, no that's not a question I need answered." Natasha said taking a drink of her beer.

Clint looked at Izzy. "Kid you try. You're less jaded than the rest of us." He said.

Izzy laughed. "I still have a curfew." She said. "I don't need to rule a world."

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king." Tony said. "But it's rigged."

"You bet your ass." Clint said.

Hill spoke up. "Steve, he said a bad language word." She said.

Steve's head fell for a second. "Did you tell everyone about that?" He asked Tony.

"The handle is imprinted." Tony said. "Right? Like a security code. Whoever carries Thor's fingerprints I believe is the literal translation."

"Yes well," Thor said standing up. "That's a very, very interesting theory but I have a simpler one." He picked up Mjolnir and flipped it in hand. "You're all not worthy."

Everyone laughed and made snarky remarks about that until a piercing screech hit their ears.


	42. Chapter 42

**Moving along. Little bit of a longer chapter. Also like quick opinion poll, should I change the story a little and keep Quicksilver alive? I feel like he'd be such a fun character to write, especially during Civil War, and I was so sad when they killed him. Let me know in reviews or PM if he should live or die.**

 **As always please review :)**

* * *

At the screech, everyone flinched and looked for the source. Hearing heavy footsteps, they turned to look, seeing a Iron Legion suit walking out pieces not quite assembled correctly walking out.

"No…" A voice from the suit said. "How could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark?" Steve said staring at the suit with a grim expression.

Tony quickly pulled out his all in one control device. "JARVIS?" He said.

"Sorry I was asleep." The suit said. "Or I was a dream…"

"Reboot legionnaire." Tony said. "We got a buggy suit."

Izzy stared at the suit. Something was strange, the voice, it wasn't what the other legionnaires sounded like. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what this was.

The legionnaire continued its musings. "There was a terrible noise. I was tangled in strings." It said. "Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve said.

"Wouldn't have been my first call." The suit said. "But down in the real world you're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asked gripping his hammer tightly.

There was a sound, almost like a tape rewinding before they heard a familiar voice. _"I see a suit of armor around the world."_ Tony's voice said in the played back recording.

Izzy stiffened, what she feared coming true.

"Ultron." Bruce said looking at Tony.

"In the flesh." The suit responded. "Well no, not yet. Not this chrysalis."

Tony pulled Izzy behind him and Clint pulled her further back still.

"But I'm ready." Ultron continued. "I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

The suit looked at them. "Peace in our time." He Said simply as three more suits busted through the wall like the damn cool-aide man.

Clint jerked Izzy backwards as Steve kicked up the table to block a shot from one of the suits. There was a lot of commotion as the Avengers engaged with the bugged suits. Rhodey was knocked through the glass windows landing on a balcony a level below as Tony was knocked through a bookcase.

Natasha got Bruce out of the way of the suit, trying to prevent a code green from happening. Steve jumped on one of the suits as Thor engaged another.

"Come on." Clint said to Izzy as he went to get Steve's shield.

Izzy followed him closely, ducking as a stray shot came a little close to her head. She was thankful she had ditched the heels, or she wouldn't have been able to keep up.

Tony had jumped on one and was trying to kill it by severing some circuits through its neck. Natasha and Bruce were pinned down, Natasha had a gun that she had grabbed from under the bar.

"Stark!" Steve called.

"One sec, one sec." Tony said finally jamming the tool down into the suit killing it. It fell to the floor with Tony.

Clint grabbed Steve's shield. "Cap!" He called tossing it.

Steve caught it and while still in midair threw it at the remaining suit, breaking it.

"Well that was dramatic." Ultron said.

Everyone turned to the suit, trying to catch their breath after the fight.

"I'm sorry." Ultron said. "I know you mean well, you just didn't think it through."

Izzy walked over to Tony and knelt next to him as she watched Ultron.

"You want to protect the world," Ultron said. "But you don't want it to change. How is humanity supposed to survive if it's not allowed to evolve? With these?" Ultron picked up one of the broken suits. "These puppets." He said in contempt as he crushed its head. "There's only one path to peace…the Avengers extinction."

Thor threw his hammer and the Ultron suit shattered to pieces.

"I had strings but now I'm free." Ultron's voice drifted out as the suit shut down. "There are no strings on me…"

 _Great._ Izzy thought. _I always hated Pinocchio._

Thor went after one of the legionnaires that had grabbed Loki's scepter in all the chaos. While he was gone, everyone else gathered together in the lab to regroup. Natasha and Izzy had changed out of their dresses, Hill was pulling glass from her feet, Rhodey had injured his shoulder in the fall. Everyone had scrapes and bruises from the encounter with Ultron.

Izzy stood next to Tony, quietly looking through the system to figure out what went wrong. It didn't take long for them to make a horrifying discovery.

"All our work is gone." Bruce said. "Ultron cleared out and used the Internet as an escape route."

"He's been in everything." Natasha said. "Files, surveillance, probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

Izzy glanced at Clint briefly and saw the troubled look on his face.

"He's in your files, he's in the Internet." Rhodey said. "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes." Hill said looking up.

"We need to make some calls." Rhodey said. "Assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha mused. "He said he wanted us dead— "

"He didn't say dead." Steve cut her off. "He said extinct."

"He also said he killed someone." Clint said.

Hill look at him. "There wasn't anyone else in the building." She said.

"Yes, there was." Tony said as Izzy brought up the projection.

What would have been JARVIS in spherical form was nothing but broken pieces.

Everyone stared in shock at the image.

"This is insane." Bruce said quietly.

"JARVIS was the first line of defense." Steve said. "He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No." Bruce shook his head. "Ultron could have assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy, this is rage."

Thor arrived at that moment and walked right to Tony. As Tony turned around Thor grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air.

"Whoa!" Izzy said grabbing Thor's other arm that had Mjolnir.

"It's going around." Clint said watching the scene play out.

"Come on," Tony said. "Use your words buddy."

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark." Thor said.

Steve stepped forward. "Thor." He said in his authoritative voice. "The legionnaire?"

Thor dropped Tony onto his feet, Tony stumbled back against the desk.

Izzy shot a quick glance at Thor before going over to Tony.

"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but its heading north." Thor said. "And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it again."

"Genie's out of that bottle." Natasha said. "Clear and present is Ultron."

Dr. Cho was looking at the broken pieces to one of the legionnaires. "I don't understand." She said. She turned back to Tony. "You built this program, why is it trying to kill us?"

Izzy swallowed the lump in her throat, she had an idea, but it was a scary one.

Tony was facing one of the monitors and he accidentally let slip a laugh that he was suppressing. Izzy looked back at him, Bruce, was standing next to him shook his head and made a sound for Tony to stop.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked.

Izzy stood still, she was between Thor and Tony right now and Thor wouldn't move closer if she was in the way.

"No." Tony said in an innocent voice as he turned around. "It's probably not, right?" He looked around and everyone was watching him. "Is it really—it is t's so terrible."

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't meddled with something you didn't understand." Thor said.

"No." Tony said, tone changing to annoyance. "You know what? I'm sorry, it is funny. It is a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Izzy placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from moving any closer to the angry Asgardian.

Bruce spoke in his typical nervous tone. "Tony, maybe this might not be the best time—"

"Really?" Tony turned and looked at him. "That's it? You just roll over and show your belly every time someone snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce said.

"We didn't though." Izzy argued. "We weren't even close to an interface."

"Well you did something right." Steve said uncrossing his arms finally and walking forward. "And you did it right here. The Avengers are supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anyone remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked.

"No, it's never come up." Rhodey muttered sarcastically.

"Saved New York?" Tony continued.

"Never heard that." Rhodey said.

"Recall that?" Tony said. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space, we're standing 300 feet below it."

Everyone was silent as they listened, they all remembered that day.

"We're the Avengers." Tony said in a quieter tone. "We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there, that's the endgame. How are you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together." Steve said.

Tony looked at him. "We'll lose." He said.

"And we'll do that together to." Steve replied.

They stared at each other for a moment, but Tony broke eye contact first. Izzy looked at his expression and it was one of the few times she had seen him genuinely shaken.

"Thor's right." Steve said taking charge. "Ultron's calling us out and I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world is a big place, let's start making it smaller."

Izzy took Tony's hand in hers and she leaned her forehead against his shoulder for a brief moment in comfort before they got to work.

It wasn't long before they figured out that Ultron was moving. He was gathering equipment from places all over the world and he also managed to recruit the Maximoff twins, which further complicated the matter.

Hill showed them a picture sent from the prison that was holding Strucker.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene just for us." Tony said looking at the photo, the word 'Peace' written on the wall in Strucker's blood.

"This is a smoke screen." Natasha said. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve said.

"And I bet he—yeah, everything we had on Strucker has been erased." Natasha said looking at one of the monitors.

"Not everything." Tony said.

They dug out the old file boxes, paper copies of almost everything, known associates, details on his experiments, everything.

"Strucker had a lot of friends." Tony commented. "All known horrible people." He caught sight of someone in a file that Bruce had. "Wait. I know that guy."

Bruce handed him the file and Izzy looked over his shoulder.

"From back in the day. He operates off the African coast." Tony said. "Black market arms."

Steve gave him a look of disapproval as he handed over the photo.

"There are conventions." Tony said. "Alright? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything." He thought back on the encounter. "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer. It was all very Ahab."

"This?" Thor asked, pointing to the man's neck in the picture.

"Uh, it's a tattoo." Tony said. "I don't think he had it."

"Those are tattoos." Thor said pointing at some visible ones. He pointed back to the man's neck. "This is a brand."

Bruce scanned it and started searching for it. "Yeah." He said finding a match. "A word in an African dialect meaning 'Thief'. In a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked.

"Wakanada." Bruce said then took a double take at it. "Wa-wa-Wakanda."

Tony and Steve shared a look, Izzy put her head in her hands.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…" Tony said.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve said.

Bruce walked over. "I don't follow, what comes out of Wakanda?" He asked.

"The strongest metal on Earth." Izzy said lifting her head and glancing at the shield sitting leaning against the wall in the corner.

Steve turned to Tony. "Where is this guy now?"


	43. Chapter 43

**Hi all! So here is the next chapter. I've been a little distracted since my last update, but hopefully I'll be a little more disciplined with writing to get this moving along. Thank you for your patience. I threw in a sweet moment at the beginning of this chapter before things get crazy. I'm starting to like writing Steve and Izzy interacting with one another. Also poll is still open on whether you want Pietro to live or not. Let me know in review or PM to let me know.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

It didn't take long to figure out that Klaue was off the South African coast. Steve gave them 20 minutes to prep everything before the departed.

While the adults gathered the majority of the gear, Izzy worked on preparing their flight plan. She had changed into jean shorts and a Black Sabbath t-shirt, her hair pulled up into a bun for now. As she input the data they needed, she listened with half an ear to Steve and Natasha talking about the Maximoff twins. They were becoming a real threat. As she listened, Izzy tried to push the thought of Pietro saving her out of her mind. The biggest question she had was why he did it. She obviously had the armor, she was clearly not from Sokovia, what was the motive?

"How are things going in here?"

She jumped hearing Steve's voice. She had zoned out and not heard him approach. "Hey Cap…" She said snapping out of it. "Sorry, I didn't hear you. I'm almost done here."

Steve didn't say anything for a moment, and she squirmed under his gaze. It was like he knew what she was thinking.

"Did you need something else?" She asked tentatively.

Steve sat down in the copilot seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "I think you should sit out this mission." He said.

That had her attention, she spun to face him. "What? Why?" She said.

"You have a conflicting interest." Steve said calmly.

She froze. "Why do you mean?" Though she already knew what he was going to say.

"I saw the footage before you cleared it." Steve said.

Izzy sighed, closing her eyes for a second. "Does dad know?" She asked.

"No." He said. "Neither do the others."

"Are you going to tell them?" She asked.

Steve shook his head. "I think you should." He replied.

Izzy glanced toward the open ramp, seeing a few of the team getting gear together. This was far from the righteous lecture she thought she was going to get when she first realized where the conversation was heading; Steve seemed to almost understand her problem.

"What is it?" Steve asked looking at her face.

"Why did the Maximoff kid save me?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know." He replied. "But if that question is going to cloud your judgement when it comes to facing him then you need to be placed on backup with Banner until you can look at it objectively."

Izzy frowned. "It won't cloud my judgement." She protested.

Steve's clear blue eyes were kind. "It already is." He said gently.

Her shoulders dropped a little from her initial defensiveness and she nodded in acquiescence of his instruction.

Steve put a brief hand on her shoulder. "Don't lie to us again though, okay?" He said. "We need to be a team on this."

"Aye aye Cap." She said with a faint smile.

When the team joined them, Steve went over the plan, near the end he tacked on the newest order. "Isabel is going to stay on the jet with Dr. Banner." He said. "We don't know what kind of weapons Klaue possesses that Ultron wants, and if Ultron is there with the Maximoffs then we need to assess the situation before we bring them in." Steve said. "Hopefully, they won't be needed at all."

None of the team complained, they wanted to keep her out of the fight anyways.

When they landed the jet, Izzy watched them leave, feeling sick. She should be out there with them, instead because of her own stupidity and recklessness, she was stuck here unless it was a dire circumstance. She pulled up communications, at least she and Bruce could listen in.

Bruce looked as nervous as she felt. He was pacing back and forth, twisting his hands nervously as she set up communications.

"Here Bruce," Izzy said. "Come sit with me."

She was able to get video feed through Tony's suit, seeing Ultron standing over Klaue, who was freshly missing an arm, and the Maximoff twins standing nearby.

"Don't compare me with Stark!" Ultron said angrily. "It's a thing with me. Stark is…he's a sickness."

"Aw junior," Tony said. "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

"If I have to." Ultron said.

Thor stepped forward. "No one has to break anything." He said.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron said.

"He beat me by like one second." Tony said.

Izzy shook her head but smiled. If she was honest, she was thinking the exact same thing.

"Ah this is funny, Mr. Stark." Pietro spoke mockingly. "It's what? Comfortable?" He looked at the rows of missiles that Klaue had stored on the ship. "Like old times?"

Izzy tensed.

"This was never my life." Tony said and there was a tone in his voice that only Izzy recognized. Neither of them had talked with the team about some of the circumstances surrounding why he had become Iron Man, they only knew some of the snippets from news broadcasts and old SHIELD files.

"You two can still walk away from this." Steve said to the twins.

"And we will." Wanda said with a patronizing smile.

"I know you've suffered—"

"Captain America." Ultron cut him off. "God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war." Izzy's eyes narrowed as he took a jab at Steve. "I can't physically throw up in my mouth but…"

"If you believe in peace then let us keep it." Steve said not letting it get under his skin.

"I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet'." Ultron said.

"What's the vibranium for?" Tony asked.

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." Ultron said sarcastically before using a magnetic force to pull Tony forward and then blast him back.

The magnetics had interfered with the video feed and the ensuing battle was giving off static in the coms. "No, no." Izzy muttered as she worked to restore the feed or at least bring coms back up.

She got up, getting her armor. As it closed around her body, she heard Bruce touch the coms.

"Guys, is this a code green?" He said hoping for some response.

"I'm going to see what's happening." Izzy said as her HUD came up. "Stay here, okay?"

"You shouldn't go in yourself." He said.

Izzy sighed. "If we can avoid a code green, we should." She replied.

She opened the ramp and stepped out, Bruce inching down the ramp cautiously as well, looking around but still staying close to the ship.

However, as she reached the bottom of the ramp, she was hit by a red blast of…something, knocking her to the side. Whatever it was, it was enough to make her suit eject her out. She rolled to avoid damage to herself the way Natasha had taught her, but as she rolled to her feet the wind shifted around her as something "too fast to see" went past her and she felt her arms pinned back suddenly.

"Miss. Stark." Pietro acknowledged.

She didn't have time to reply as she saw Wanda raise her hands, eyes glowing red and red tendrils of magic swirled around her fingers. She was aiming at Bruce. "No don't!" Izzy called.

Squeezing her hands into a fist to activate the bracelets she had on, sending an electric pulse coursing through Pietro causing him to release his grip she called a gauntlet to her hand and blasted Wanda away, but not before she hit Bruce.

Izzy saw it, the fear that took hold and she watched the minute that Bruce lost his control of the Hulk. "Bruce." She whispered in horror as she watched the change begin, faster than she had ever seen it.

Summoning the rest of her suit, she looked at the twins. Pietro had gone to Wanda's side, she was more dazed by the shot from the suit than hurt, but both were staring in shocked terror at the Hulk. Despite what they did, Izzy couldn't let them be killed, so before the Hulk could charge at the twins, Izzy sent a blast into his face to redirect him, he took off towards Johannesburg. "You have no idea what you've just done." She said and took off after Hulk.

"The Maximoff girl got to Bruce." Izzy said into the coms. "Does anyone copy? The Hulk is heading towards the city."

"I'm coming Izzy." Tony replied, having been alerted already to the problem. "No chance of a lullaby?"

"I can't get close enough." Izzy replied dodging a big green fist. She could keep up with the Hulk, but every time she got close, he tried to rip her in half.

"The whole team is down." Clint said over coms. "You've got no back up here."

There was a pause from Tony. "I'm calling in Veronica."


	44. Chapter 44

**Hi guys! I'm back, I'm sorry. It's been a crazy couple weeks because I'm finally starting my program at school so I can finish my degree. I'm not going to lie, my updates may be a little spotty over the next coming months. I will do my best I promise so please just have patience with me. I'm going to try to have AOU finished before Endgame comes out but when I looked at the size of my textbooks, I might not have it done. I'm gonna try though.**

 **As always please review :)**

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Izzy continued to try to corral the Hulk while Tony called down the Hulkbuster armor from their satellite. She flew just out of reach of his hands but close enough that his attention would be on her while the civilians ran away. Unfortunately, police responded as well, making her job 10 times harder.

They tried to use guns, but that was easily the most ineffective thing in the world. It only succeeded in pissing the Hulk off further.

"Stand down!" She called to the police as she flew in front of Hulk so he wouldn't smash a police officer. "Come on big guy, you've got to calm down."

Two other officers used their semi-automatic rifles to fire at the Hulk.

"For the love of—" Izzy was cut off as a backhand connected with her chest, sending her back into one of the armored cars and despite the impact buffer from the suit, knocked all the air from her lungs.

Hulk knocked over a squad car and was about to attack two officers when suddenly several pieces of armored plating fell from the sky, surrounding the Hulk and creating a containment casing around him.

"You okay kid?" Tony asked in her coms.

"Oh yeah." She muttered forcing air back into her lungs, blinking the spots from her vision. She flew up to see the temporary cage and the dents that the Hulk was putting in it from the inside. "That's not going to hold him."

As she said that, there was a loud crack and the cage sunk into the ground.

"Clear everyone back." Tony said. "I'm almost there."

"Yep." She replied going to a white car that was a little too close to the cage, a woman trapped inside.

Just as she got to the car the Hulk broke up through the concrete and grabbed a hold of her, a giant hand closing around her torso.

"Shit!" She cried and activated a flare right in his face causing him to let go in surprise. She pushed the car out of the way quickly and flew up into the air.

Suddenly, Tony landed, the last pieces of the Hulkbuster armor encasing the suit. "Alright everyone, stand down!" Tony said in a commanding voice.

There was an eerie silence that settled over the area for a second as Hulk stared at Iron Man.

"You listening to me?" Tony asked. "That little witch is messing with your mind. You're stronger than her, you're smarter than her. You're Bruce Banner."

Hulk roared in anger.

"Right, right, don't mention puny Banner." Tony said as Hulk lifted up a car and threw it at Tony.

Tony caught the car, but Hulk punched right through the car knocking Tony back. "Okay." Tony muttered and flew forward catching the Hulk by the face and slamming him into the ground, tearing up a large strip of the road. Hulk kicked him off, but Tony easily corrected using the thrusters. Hulk charged at him, but Tony threw him to the side, hitting him with a repulsor shot, sending him flying into a truck bed.

Despite the dire situation, Izzy was fascinated as she watched the fight while she cleared civilians out of the way of the fight. This was the first major use of the Hulkbuster armor, and that part of her brain was enthralled by watching how it worked.

"Dad watch out!" Izzy called as she watched Hulk pick up a downed light pole.

Hulk clocked Tony with it and then brought the pole down through the arm joint of the armor.

"Right in the back?" Tony said. "Dick move Banner."

Turning the arm around, Tony hit Hulk and knocked him off. The arm was badly damaged.

"Veronica, give me a hand." Tony said with a sigh as the arm disengaged, breaking into pieces.

The Hulk shook off his daze and charged at Tony again, though Tony was able to use the repulsors to keep him back while the arm replacement connected. Hulk reached him as the last piece connected and their fists connected sending a shockwave loud enough to shatter the glass in the surrounding cars. Izzy flinched back as her ears rang.

Tony flipped the Hulk through the air, so he landed on his back. Tony punched him in the face using the hydraulics in the arm, trying to knock him out. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go sleep." Tony said in a strained voice.

Hulk caught the fist punching him in the face after a second but before he could get the upper hand, the armor shifted to create a lock around the Hulk's arm that he couldn't break out of no matter how he struggled.

Tony activated the thrusters in the suit, flying up.

"Okay pal, we're going to get you out of town." Tony said.

Izzy followed quickly, hoping that they could get him contained enough for a lullaby.

Hulk kicked off a building, pulling Tony off course.

"Not that way, not that way." Tony said as they crashed through a building.

As they went through a walkway, the lock disengaged, releasing the Hulk. Tony knocked Hulk into a wall, holding him back as the Hulk flailed like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "Come on Bruce! You gotta work with me." Tony said in frustration as he tried to use a sleeping gas on him.

Izzy watched an elevator reach their floor and immediately flew towards it as Hulk kicked Tony back, knocking into the elevator. Izzy caught the cable, stopping the elevator from crashing to the ground. "Everyone out." She called quickly as Tony knocked the Hulk past her and down to the bottom level, crashing into the stairs.

"Going down!" Izzy said as she swung the now empty elevator in an arch through the air, bringing it down on the Hulk.

Tony came down and cracked the Hulk in the face with a hard punch.

Izzy watched in the sudden stillness, Hulk turned at looked at Tony, eyes red and angry as he spit out a tooth.

"I'm sorry." Tony said.

Izzy flew straight up quickly as Hulk knocked Tony straight at her, Tony crashing through the building and Hulk followed. She had seen the Hulk sight numerous times, had fought beside him, she had never seen the frenzy that the Hulk was in right now as he tore through a skyscraper as Tony took him further up away from street level.

"Damage report?" Tony muttered and Izzy heard the static. "That was comprehensive. Show me something."

Veronica, which had been floating around within distance to the fight, released a few more pieces as they flew through the air, but Hulk managed to knock them away.

"Dad, straight ahead." Izzy said as she flew alongside them, seeing a building still under construction with no signs of life inside.

"How quickly can we buy this building?" Tony asked.

He dropped Hulk from about 100 feet in the air, crashing down through the building, Tony following him down, breaking through the floors at high speeds, the building collapsing around them.

Izzy hovered over the rubble, hands raised just in case that didn't work with the Hulk. After a second, Hulk came out of the rubble, but he seemed more disorientated instead of angry. Before he could get angry however, Tony connected one punch that finally knocked him out.

They got Bruce back to the jet, the rest of the team had made it there as well. The Maximoff twins were long gone. Everyone was spread out, an oppressive silence settling over them.

Clint was at the pilot controls, getting them far away from South Africa. Izzy moved between everyone making sure that they were okay. Tony was banged up from the fight, but good. Steve, Thor, and Natasha all had dazed, far away looks on their faces.

Bruce was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the center table. He looked worn out and there was a haunted expression on his face. Izzy grabbed a blanket and walked over to Bruce. He flinched at first, moving away slightly.

Izzy knew him well enough to know that he wasn't rejecting her but was wrapped up in his own self-loathing and afraid that we would hurt her. She wasn't deterred and sat down on the floor with him, gently taking one of his hands in hers. She reached up and brushed some of his unruly hair out of his face, the way Pepper would do to her when she was upset. Bruce closed his eyes, pain on his face but he seemed to calm down more as she sat with him, his hand closing around hers for an anchor instead of pulling away.

Izzy glanced up Tony connected a call to Hill. He glanced at her and smiled faintly as he saw her sitting with Bruce.

"The news is loving you guys." Hill said. "Nobody else is. There has been no official call for Banner's arrest but it's in the air."

"Stark Relief Foundation?" Tony asked.

"Already on the scene." Hill replied. "How's the team?"

"Everyone's…" Tony paused. "We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

Hill sighed. "Well for now, I'd stay in stealth mode and stay away from here." She said.

Tony leaned forward. "So, run and hide?" He asked.

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." Hill replied.

"Neither do we." Tony said softly and disconnected the call. He got up and walked to Clint. "Hey, you wanna switch out?"

"No, I'm good." Clint said. "But if you wanna get some kip, now's a good time. We're still a few hours out."

"Few hours from where?" Tony asked.

Clint was quiet for a second as he scanned the skies. "A safe house." He said finally.

Izzy had drifted off to sleep sitting next to Bruce, her head resting on his shoulder. She stirred when she felt the jet begin to descend. She carefully sat up, noting that Bruce was sleeping restlessly. She stood up, trying not to wince as her ribs protested, and moved to the front of the jet, looking out at the peaceful farm house as Clint settled the jet in a clearing, sheltered by some trees.

She put a hand on Clint's shoulder in comfort, knowing he was nervous about bringing any possible danger around his family. He squeezed her hand back and then got up.

Everyone slowly moved to leave the jet, Clint helped Natasha up, keeping an arm around her to keep her moving while Izzy took Bruce's hands to pull him to his feet.

Bruce wanted to lag behind the group, but Izzy kept her arm linked with his so he would stay with them. She looked around, marveling at the serenity of the farm having never seen it in the daytime.

"What is this place?" Thor asked quietly looking around.

"A safe house?" Tony said as they walked up the steps to the porch.

"Let's hope." Clint said glancing back as he opened the door.

They walked in to see toys spread on the hardwood floor. There was a smell of something delicious cooking.

"Honey, I'm home." Clint called.

Izzy smiled as Laura came around the corner from the kitchen, showing her very pregnant belly. She was about seven months along right now.

"Hi. Company." Clint said. "Sorry, I didn't call ahead."

Laura just smiled walking over to kiss Clint and return his embrace.

"This is an agent of some kind." Tony said to Thor.

Izzy giggled and shook her head.

"Gentlemen, this is Laura." Clint said.

"I know all your names." Laura said with a smile.

Izzy walked over and hugged Laura tightly, minding her belly, while they heard footsteps running from upstairs.

"Incoming." Clint said bracing himself, a smile on his face.

"Daddy!" Lila said coming around the corner, Clint lifting her into his arms.

"Hi sweetheart." He said kissing her cheek. He hugged Cooper against his side and kissed the top of his head. "Hey buddy. How're you guys doing?"

"These are smaller agents." Tony said still not believing what he was seeing.

Steve's expression showed that he was catching up quickly.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" Lila asked.

That seemed to brighten Natasha up. "Why don't you hug her an find out?" Natasha said moving away from Steve to scoop up the little girl.

Izzy moved back over next to Tony as Clint put an arm around Laura, keeping his other arm around Cooper as well.

"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve said.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead but we were bust having no idea that you existed." Tony said arms crossed. He glanced at Izzy, but she looked to her shoes.

"Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined." Clint said. "He kept it off SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lay low."

That struck a chord with Tony as he looked at Izzy and couldn't help but hug her close. Izzy wrapped her arms around him in return, she knew he felt guilty for the danger that she was in and wished at times that things were different.

As they stood there, suddenly Thor walked out of the room seeming upset. Steve walked after him.

"Thor." Steve said.

"I saw something in that dream." Thor said. "I need answers. I won't find them here."

Thor flew off as Izzy looked around the corner. She saw Steve turn to come back in the house, but something made him pause, a shadowed look coming over his face before he turned and walked down the stairs again.

She frowned. The Maximoff girl had ripped them all to pieces, it was going to take more than just a day for them to pick themselves back up again.


	45. Chapter 45

**Hi guys. Here is a bit of a longer chapter to tide you guys over. I got my assignment schedule for the next couple weeks and I'm going to be very busy so I'm probably not going to be able to update for about two weeks unless I'm extremely lucky. Hope you guys like this one. Also the poll on whether Pietro lives or dies is still going on so let me know via PM or review what you guys want.**

 **As always please review :)**

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After washing her hands, Izzy helped Laura cook lunch for everyone while she waited to use the shower. It felt normal to do things like this for a change. As she stood at the counter slicing tomatoes for the sandwiches, she remembered all the times she had cooked with Peggy, or Pepper, or even Tony. These were her favorite moments and it made it a little easier to deal with what was happening outside of the farm house.

"Isabel, look." Lila came running in at full speed and collided with Izzy's legs.

The impact jarred Izzy's ribs making her wince, but she quickly smiled and knelt down to see the picture that Lila had painted. When she stood back up, she noticed Laura watching her with worried eyes.

"Isabel would you mind getting the chips from the pantry?" Laura asked as Natasha walked in to the kitchen to help.

"Sure." Izzy replied. When she came back with three bags of chips, she noticed Laura and Natasha speaking quietly, and now Natasha glanced at her with a worried expression.

After they finished with lunch they started to clean up, Izzy was about to go grab the last of the plates, but Clint came downstairs and said Laura wanted her upstairs for a second. She walked into the master bedroom to see Natasha and Laura there.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked as she looked at the two.

"How bad are you hurt?" Natasha asked.

Izzy paused. "I'm not." She replied.

Laura gave her a look of disbelief that was very much perfected from being a mom.

Natasha moved over to her. "Touch your toes and then come back up." She said.

Izzy bent over and touched her toes but tried to come up quickly to avoid the pain, but Natasha was quicker.

"Slowly." Natasha said.

Izzy didn't even come up half way before her ribs screamed in pain. She winced.

Natasha sighed and she and Laura helped Izzy out of her shirt to view the damage. Laura gasped, covering her mouth, and Natasha inhaled sharply through her teeth. Catching sight of herself in the floor length mirror, Izzy saw the lovely deep purple bruise coloring her front and across her left side.

"What happened?" Laura asked.

"I got a little too close." Izzy replied. "I'll be fine."

"This happened in Johannesburg?" Natasha asked, eyes worried.

"Do not tell Bruce." Izzy said. "He feels bad enough."

Natasha nodded in agreement. "We'll tape you up. But if you're worse later you're sitting out." She said.

"Nat—"

"I will tell Tony if you argue." Natasha replied simply.

Izzy was quiet as Laura and Natasha ushered her into the shower to clean up and then when she got out, Natasha helped her tape up her ribs and then get dressed again.

Izzy walked outside to see Clint had assigned tasks. Steve and Tony were chopping firewood while Clint worked with Cooper on building something. Lila grabbed Natasha to read a story, so they were sitting on the rocking chair on the porch. Smiling to herself, she grabbed her camera that she had brought with her from the jet to take pictures. She got ones of Clint and Cooper, Natasha and Lila, she got a beautiful one of Laura holding her hands over the baby belly. She went out to take pictures of Tony and Steve.

"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Tony asked Steve.

"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things." Steve said glancing at Clint with Cooper and his eyes even landing on Izzy briefly. "I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception."

"Yeah, give him time." Tony said. "We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."

"Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Steve said and shook his head. "Pulled us apart like cotton candy."

"Seems like you walked away alright." Tony said offhandedly.

His tone of voice wasn't lost on Izzy or Steve for that matter. "Is that a problem?" Steve asked facing him.

"I don't trust a guy without a dark side." Tony said and chopped another woodblock in half. "Call me old-fashioned."

"Well, let's just say you haven't seen it yet." Steve said.

"You know Ultron's trying to tear us apart, right?" Tony said.

"Well I guess you'd know." Steve said going back to chopping. "Whether you'd tell us is a bit of a question."

Izzy winced slightly seeing this conversation was going to go downhill quickly.

"Izzy, Banner, and I were doing research." Tony said.

"That would affect the team." Steve said.

"That would end the team." Tony said walking over. "Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'why we fight'? So, we can end the fight? So, we get to go home?"

Steve ripped one of the logs in half with his hands making Izzy jump slightly, taking a step back, eyes wide. His blue eyes instantly showed regret for startling her, but he spoke in a firm, level voice to Tony. "Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die." He said. "Every time."

Tony stared at him for a long moment before he looked down and Izzy could truly see the weariness on his face that he normally hid so well.

"I'm sorry." Laura walked up. "Mr. Stark uh…Clint said you wouldn't mind but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might…"

"Yeah, okay." Tony said. "I'll give her a kick."

Izzy smiled faintly, loving Laura's ability to gently deter a situation.

When Tony looked back up, that confident mask was back up. Izzy followed him to the barn where the tractor was.

"Hello Deere." Tony said. "Tell me everything. What ails you?"

They pulled pieces off, looking for the source of the problem. Izzy climbed up on top of the tractor to looked at the engine from above.

"Do me a favor." A familiar voice said from the back of the barn. "Try not to bring it to life."

Izzy looked up and Tony turned to face Nick Fury, his jaw clenched tightly.

"Why Ms. Barton, you little minx." Tony muttered. "I get it, Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?"

"Artificial Intelligence." Fury said like Tony hadn't even spoken. "You never even hesitated."

"Look, it's been a really long day." Tony said. "Like Eugene O'Neil long, so how about we skip to the part where you're useful?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down." Fury said.

"You're not the director of me." Tony said petulantly.

"I'm not the director of anybody." Fury said not rising to Tony's bait as he sat on a bale of hay. "I'm just an old man who cares very much about you."

Izzy watched silently as the emotions battled on Tony's face.

"And I'm the man that killed the Avengers." Tony said, finally showing what was eating at him. "I didn't tell the team. How could I? I saw them all dead Nick, I felt it. The whole world too. Because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

Izzy jumped off the tractor as Tony came over to her side of it. She touched his arm gently; his hand came up and gripped hers tightly like it was a lifeline.

"The Maximoff girl, she's working you Stark." Fury said. "Playing on your fears…"

"I wasn't tricked." Tony said. "I was shown. It wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy. It's the end of the path I started us on."

"You've come up with some pretty impressive inventions Tony." Fury said standing up. "War isn't one of them."

Tony shook his head as he picked up a rag and a wrench idly. "Watched my friends die…my kid…you'd think that would be as bad as it gets right? Nope."

Izzy watched Tony helplessly as he spiraled down these dark thoughts. Very few times had he gone to this place where she couldn't reach him and draw him back.

"Wasn't the worst part." Tony said eyes distant.

"The worst part," Fury said walking over. "Is that you didn't."

Something about his words penetrated the fog in Tony's brain and he looked up at the man. Izzy couldn't explain what she saw but it eased the tightness in her chest as she looked at her father, seeing the light come back to his eyes.

Fury went to go speak with Clint letting Tony and Izzy go back to fixing the tractor, which was actually broken.

"I think we should just buy them a new tractor." Izzy said after the fifth failed attempt for the engine to turn over.

Tony smiled faintly. "Be patient." He instructed. He adjusted something. "Try now."

She did and after a half a beat it turned over and ran steadily, if noisily. "You did it." She smiled turning it back off again to avoid fumes since the barn was still closed up. "What was it?"

"A few loose pieces." Tony replied as her jumped down.

"Let's go see if dinner is ready." Izzy said noting the darkness outside. "I'm starving."

"Izzy, wait." Tony said his voice rough and serious.

She stopped instantly and looked at him with worry. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I am sorry." He said looking at her. "I am sorry that you're dragged into all of this because of me. I'm sorry that Ultron is a threat because of me. God," He ran his hands over his face in frustration. "I'm sorry that I keep getting us into situations that make me need to say I'm sorry. I promise you I am going to fix this, all of it."

Izzy had been silent as she listened to him, eyes wide. "Dad, I don't blame you." She said softly. "I don't doubt that sooner or later we would have been doing this anyways."

"You're already hurt because of me." Tony said and rolled his eyes at her surprised expression. "Laura told Clint about your ribs and Clint told me. _You_ should have told me but that's not the point. What kind of father lets his kid be placed in a warzone like this?"

"We're Starks, we're mechanics, we fix things." Izzy said quietly. "And right now, fixing things include this broken world. We're not perfect, any of us. But like Steve said we'll do this together, success or failure." She smiled brightly after a second. "Besides you can't think that I would ever pass up an opportunity to have my suit."

Tony chuckled quietly and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Izzy just smiled and returned the tight embrace before they heard a noise at the door to the barn.

"How are things coming in here?" Clint asked standing in the doorway.

"Good." Izzy said wondering how much he had heard. "Your tractor works now."

Clint smiled faintly. "Dinner's ready." He said.

Father and daughter followed Clint back to the house, Tony keeping his arm around Izzy as they walked.

After cleaning the grease off, Izzy and Tony joined the others in the kitchen. Dinner was a surprisingly nice event, they couldn't discuss the potential end of the world around Cooper and Lila, so it felt more just like a family, a dysfunctional one, but a family none the less sitting to have a meal together.

Afterwards, Laura kept the kids busy before bedtime so they could discuss their next move.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time." Fury said. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of vibranium he took off with I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked.

"He's easy to track." Fury said. "He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit."

Izzy snickered at that.

"It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though." Fury said.

"Is he still going after the launch codes?" Tony asked throwing darts at a target.

"Yes, he is." Fury said. "But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon firewall in high school on a dare." Tony said.

Fury shrugged. "I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." He said.

"Nexus?" Steve asked.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo." Bruce said. "Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth."

"So, what did they say?" Clint asked.

"He's fixated on the missiles." Fury said. "But the codes are constantly being changed."

Tony looked back. "By whom?" He asked.

"Parties unknown." Fury replied.

"Do we have an ally?" Izzy asked looking up.

"Ultron has an enemy." Fury said. "That is not the same thing. Still I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

Tony looked at Izzy. "We may need to visit Oslo." He said. "Find our unknown."

Izzy nodded in agreement.

"Well, this is good times boss." Natasha said to Fury. "But I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do." Fury said simply. "I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could ever dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction." He gestured around him. "All this laid in a grave. So, stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Natasha said with a smirk.

"You know what Romanoff?" Steve said with a smile on his face.

Izzy looked at the two and smiled faintly.

"So, what does he want?" Fury asked.

Steve looked up. "To become better." He said. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies." Izzy said thoughtfully.

"The human for form is inefficient." Tony said. "Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Izzy noticed Bruce staring intently at a painting of a butterfly that Lila had given to Natasha. She tilted her head to the side watching his expression.

"When you guys programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha commented.

"They don't need to be protected." Bruce said, voice deeper, in thought as he continued to stare at the picture. "They need to evolve." He looked up to see everyone's focus on him. "Ultron is going to evolve."

"How?" Fury asked.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked.

Izzy felt her heart sink.

They made plans to move out quickly. They went about gathering their gear and making arrangements.

Izzy pulled up some data from her suit as she waited for Tony to be ready to leave for Oslo. She reviewed the footage of the last encounter with the Maximoff twins and tried to focus on a way to counteract their abilities if (when) they had to face them again.

She tilted her head to the side curiously as she realized that the electric current she had hit Pietro with had actually stalled his abilities for a second.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint." Steve said to Tony as he put his shield on his back.

"Alright. Strictly recon." Tony said as he walked over to Izzy. "We'll hit the Nexus and join you as soon as we can."

"If Ultron is really building a body…" Steve said.

"He'll be more powerful than any of us." Tony said. "Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Steve sighed. "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me." He said.

Izzy chuckled.

Fury walked up pulling his jacket on. "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. You mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?" He asked Tony.

"She's all yours." Tony said. "Apparently. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Fury said. "Something dramatic I hope."

Tony smirked and then looked at Izzy. "Ready princess?" He asked.

Izzy smiled, Tony hadn't called her that since she was little. "Yep." She said with a smile.


	46. Chapter 46

**Hi all, here is another chapter, much sooner than I thought. Hope you guys enjoy it. This is the last chapter that I am uploading before I make the final decision on whether to keep Pietro alive or not so please vote via PM or review. I am going to try to finish this soon, I'm starting to come out of my beginning of semester freak out so hopefully will be able to write more consistently.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

To say the poor people working at the Nexus were shocked when Tony and Izzy showed up asking for access to their system was an understatement. They had all stumbled over their words, unsure of what to do, if they were even allowed to let them access the system. However, after about a thirty-minute conversation they were finally placed at two systems to search for their mystery, maybe, ally.

"A hacker who is faster than Ultron?" Tony muttered as they searched through the system. "He could be anywhere. If this is the center of everything, we are looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack."

"How do you find it?" One of the female techs asked.

"Pretty simple." Izzy said. "You bring a magnet."

She and Tony keyed in a few commands. "Come and get us." Tony said quietly.

Izzy stared at the screen for a long moment. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god…"

The original plan had been for them to meet the others in Seoul, but as they were leaving Oslo Clint contacted them and told them he had the regeneration cradle with the body that Ultron had been trying to create. Izzy met him in the air and Tony flew ahead to New York to set up the lab with Bruce.

Landing in the quinjet midflight, Izzy stepped out of the armor once the ramp closed again. She looked at the cradle with wide eyes, the body inside unlike anything she had ever seen. Walking over, she stood next to the pilot chair as Clint filled her in on what happened. Her stomach churned when he told her that one of the legionnaire suits had grabbed Nat as they were getting the cradle.

"We'll get her back Clint." She said softly laying a hand on his shoulder.

He just nodded, jaw clenched tightly.

Once at the Tower, she and Clint looked for a way to break into the cradle while Bruce and Tony examined the diagnostic reports.

"Any word on Nat?" Bruce asked.

"Haven't heard." Tony said as they moved over to the cradle. "But she's alive or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it."

Clint jumped off the cradle. "This is sealed tight." He muttered.

"We're going to need to access the program," Bruce said looking at the cradle. "Break it down from within."

Tony paused and then turned to Clint. "Any chance Natasha would leave you a message outside the internet?" He asked. "Old-school spy stuff?"

"There's some nets I can cast." Clint said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'll find her."

Izzy watched him go down stairs to a tech room right below them, visible through the glass floor, then turned her eyes to Tony. She knew what he was planning, they had talked about it in Oslo after they found their ally.

"I can work on tissue degeneration if you can fry whatever operation system Cho implanted." Bruce said without looking up at them.

Tony scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that…"

Bruce paused and looked up, hearing his tone. Their eyes met. "No." Bruce said.

"You have to trust me." Tony said.

"Kinda don't." Bruce said backing away.

"Our ally, the guy protecting the military's nuclear codes…" Tony said. "We found him."

With a flick of his phone, Tony brought up JARVIS, back in his completed form.

"Hello Doctor." JARVIS said pleasantly.

Bruce's face made Izzy smile, but she couldn't describe how happy she was to have JARVIS back again.

"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS because he was angry." Tony said. "He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So, JARVIS went underground. Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols."

"He didn't even know he was in there until we pieced him together." Izzy said, heart racing in excitement of how amazing it had been to make that discovery.

Bruce gave a disbelieving noise. "So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?" He asked indicating the body in the cradle.

"No! Of course not." Izzy said. "We wanna help you put JARVIS in this thing."

Bruce held up his hands looking like his brain was going to explode.

"We're out of my field here." Tony said. "You know bio-organics better than anyone."

"And you just assume that JARVIS's operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce asked.

"JARVIS has been beating him from the inside without knowing it." Tony replied seriously. "This is the opportunity. We can create Ultron's perfect self without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to."

"I believe it's worth a go." JARVIS chimed in.

Izzy smiled softly.

"I'm in a loop!" Bruce said. "I am caught in a time loop. This is exactly where it all went wrong!"

"I know. I know." Tony said. "I know what everyone is gonna say. But they're already saying it." He walked over and put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. We've gotta own in. Make a stand."

Bruce looked down and shook his head slightly.

"It's not a loop." Izzy said softly. "It's the end of the line."

The calculations were difficult to complete, and they had to make some adjustments to JARVIS before the sync up could be completed. As she stood next to Tony entering in the programming changes, she noted something in the readings from the body that made her frown.

"This framework is not compatible." Tony said.

Izzy furrowed her brow in thought. "If we can preprogram the synapses to work connectively, we may have a better sync up." She said looking up.

"The genetic coding tower is at 97%." Bruce said. "You've got to upload that schematic in the next 3 minutes."

"I'm going to say this once."

Izzy's head shot up, looking at Steve, the Maximoff twins behind him. She froze for a second as she saw the twins, Pietro looking up at her as Wanda looked at Bruce by the cradle.

Bruce had stiffened upon seeing the twins.

"How about none-ce?" Tony said.

"Shut it down!" Steve ordered.

"Nope." Tony said continuing to go about the work. "Not gonna happen."

Izzy continued to type, changing the framework but she could feel the Steve's eyes on her for a second, but she refused to meet his imploring gaze.

"You don't know what you're doing." Steve said turning to Bruce.

"And you do?" Bruce asked, anger simmering in his tone. He motioned to Wanda. "She's not in your head?"

Wanda stepped forward slightly. "I know you're angry—"

"No, we're way past that." Bruce said. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Izzy looked at Bruce, her fingers stilling on the keyboard.

Steve spoke. "Banner after everything that's happened—"

"You don't know what's coming!" Tony said.

"You don't know what's in there." Wanda said looking at Tony.

Izzy looked back at them.

"This isn't a game!" Steve raised his voice, looking at the Starks.

Pietro rolled his eyes and suddenly disappeared in a blur, zipping around the room. Izzy blinked in surprise as the papers around her flew into the air and she felt the air tugging on her hair as he zipped by. When he stopped, the cables were disconnected from the cradle. The screens around them beeped indicating power lost.

"No, no." Pietro said tossing a cable aside. "Go on. You were saying?"

There was a crack and suddenly Pietro fell through the floor where Clint had shot from below.

"Pietro!" Wanda cried.

Izzy glanced down to see Clint step on Pietro's leg, pinning him. "What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint asked.

The computers screamed their warning of 'Critical Power Loss', the keening sound cutting through the room.

"I'm rerouting the upload." Tony said quickly.

Steve threw his shield quickly and it bounced off the computers causing them to spark. Izzy yelped, flinching as her system sparked, raising her arms in front of her face.

Tony reacted quickly calling a gauntlet to his hand and blasting Steve back. Wanda raised her hands, but Bruce wrapped an arm around her neck, grabbing her arm.

"Go ahead, piss me off." Bruce threatened.

Clint raced up the stairs, raising his gun.

The chest plate closed around Tony as Steve punched him, a blast from the reactor in the chest plate knocked Steve back as Tony flew backwards.

Wanda sent a blast of magic into Bruce and blasted him backwards.

Izzy called her gauntlets over and hit Wanda with a blast.

Suddenly, Thor appeared in the room. Jumping up on the cradle he raised Mjolnir, calling lightning to the hammer.

"Wait!" Bruce shouted.

Izzy raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light as Thor directed the lightning into the cradle. The computer now warning of a power overload. When the light show ended, there was a pause as everyone looked at the cradle. A few cracks formed causing a rapid chain reaction and the cradle burst apart, knocking Thor off it.

The body, a red android, came out of the cradle, crouched down for a moment.

Tony grabbed Izzy's arm, pulling her back away from the cradle and Steve subtly shifted so he was positioned more in front of her as well.

The android looked around, human like eyes taking in the room and them. His gaze stopped on Thor and flew forward, but Thor easily threw him away and he crashed through the glass wall of the lab and came to a stop at the massive window looking at the New York City skyline. He hovered there for a long moment, just staring out the window. Thor followed him, cautiously setting Mjolnir on the coffee table.

The others came forward, but Thor held up a hand, motioning for them to wait.

Izzy took off the gauntlets and stepped for a little, trying to get a better look at the android. As it turned back, she watched the red "skin" shift, creating a body suit around him as he floated down to them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the twins near Bruce, Pietro positioned protectively in front of his sister.

"I'm sorry." The android said softly in JARVIS' voice. "That was…odd." He looked at Thor. "Thank you." He looked at Thor's cape and formed one of his own.

Izzy's eyes widened and she took another involuntary step forward, wanting to know how he could do that, but Tony placed a hand on her arm keeping her where she was.

"Thor," Steve said. "You helped create this?"

"I've had a vision." Thor said. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that." He pointed to the jewel in the forehead of the android.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked.

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor said. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe. Unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

Steve frowned. "Then why would you bring it here?" He asked.

"Because Stark is right." Thor said.

"Oh, it is definitely the end times." Bruce said.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor said.

"Not alone." The android said moving forward.

"Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked.

Tony looked at the android as he walked. "We reconfigured JARVIS's matrix." He said in a subdued tone, eyes never leaving the android. "To create something new."

Izzy stepped around him, the android turning his eyes to her.

"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve said.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" The android, 'Vision', said.

"You're not?" Steve said in an accusing tone.

"I'm not Ultron." Vision said. "I'm not JARVIS either. I am…I am." He looked up at them.

Wanda stepped forward. "I looked in your head and I saw annihilation." She said.

"Look again." Vision implored softly.

"Yeah," Clint scoffed walking forward. "Her seal of approval means jack to me."

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone." Thor said looking around. "And they are nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side—"

"Is it?" Steve asked. "Are you? On our side?"

Everyone looked at the Vision.

"I don't think it's that simple." Vision said softly.

"Well it better get real simple real soon." Clint said.

"I am on the side of life." Vision said. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked.

"You." Vision said looking at Tony.

"Where?" Steve asked.

"Sokovia." Clint spoke. "He's got Nat there too."

Izzy glanced at the twins, noting their expressions at the mention of their home.

Bruce stepped forward, giving Vision a measured look. "If we're wrong about you…" He said. "If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be…"

The threat in his voice was unmistakable.

"What will you do?" Vision asked.

No one replied.

"I don't want to kill Ultron." Vision said walking again. "He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."

The silence was deafening as they processed this.

"Maybe I am a monster." Vision said. "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are. I'm not what you intended so there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go." He held up Thor's hammer, offering it to the God of Thunder.

Everyone stared at them for a moment. The twins didn't understand the significance, but Izzy's mouth dropped slightly, and the guys stared in shock. Thor took the hammer and Vision moved past him.

"Right." Thor said into the silence. He patted Tony on the shoulder as he walked by. "Well done."

"Three minutes." Steve said and the others looked at him. "Get what you need.

They moved around to get their supplies for the battle. Tony uploaded a new AI program they had named FRIDAY, it was the only one that was close to JARVIS protocol standards. Izzy showed the twins to a section of the locker rooms where they could get ready. Wanda was distracted, looking at Vision and Thor talking.

Izzy showed him some friction resistant clothing that he could use and some sneakers that she had designed for Steve to note wear out at the higher speeds that he ran at. Her mind was already working on ways to improve suits to accommodate the twins' abilities.

Pietro opened his mouth as if to say something, but Izzy spoke quickly. "Let me know if you need anything." She said and left them alone.

When she walked out, she noticed Clint sitting in front of his locker staring at a picture of his family. She didn't say anything and moved to join Tony who was with Steve and Bruce. She stood next to Steve, who was sitting.

"No way we all get through this." Tony said. "If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor."

"I got no plans tomorrow night." Steve said looking up at Tony.

"I get first crack at the big guy." Tony said. "Iron Man is the one he's waiting for."

"That's true." Vision said walking by. "He hates you the most."

Izzy moved to his side and he met her worried gaze. Tony pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her hair.

As Clint came up with the twins, Tony and Izzy pulled apart. Izzy noticed the twins watching them with unreadable expressions.

Once they were on the quinjet, Izzy passed out new coms to everyone. Izzy jumped slightly, feeling an electric shock when Pietro's fingers brushed hers. She quickly moved back to the copilot's chair as Steve spoke.

"Ultron know we're coming." Steve said. "Odds are we'll be riding in to heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So, our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field." He spoke firmly. "Keep the fight between us." He looked down for a second. "Ultron thinks we're monsters, that we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him." He looked at Tony, who met his gaze. "It's about whether he's right."


	47. Chapter 47

**Okay all, here is another chapter. I decided to make this a short one so I am leaving the voting open a little longer because I've gotten a lot more votes on whether or not Pietro lives. This is the last one though so if you haven't voted please do and let your wishes be known. I'm going to try to end this in two chapters and then chapter 50 will cover Fantastic Four (not the whole movie) before we move on to the other movies.**

 **As always please review :)**

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Once they were in Sokovia, Izzy was struck by the eerie silence of the early morning. The people there had no idea what was coming. They split up to focus on their assigned tasks. Thor got Bruce to the compound Strucker was using to get Natasha and then he broke off to find what Ultron was building. Clint, Steve, and the twins focused on evacuation, while Tony and Izzy went to Ultron.

The Iron Man suit was too recognizable and viewed with too much hostility here, even Izzy's Iron Maiden suit so it would be counterproductive for them to assist with the evacuation and they needed to keep Ultron busy.

"Your man's in the church, boss." FRIDAY said in her clear Irish accent. "I think he's waiting for you."

Tony and Izzy landed in the church through the hole in the ceiling, looking around cautiously.

"Come to confess your sins?" Ultron's voice sounded behind them.

"I don't know." Tony said easily. "How much time you got?"

"More than you." They turned to see that Ultron now stood much taller than the last time they had seen him.

Izzy took one involuntary step back but that was more to be able to look up farther to see him than actual fear.

"Uh…have you been juicing?" Tony asked. "Little vibranium cocktail? You're looking…I don't want to say 'puffy' but—"

"You're stalling to protect the people." Ultron said cutting him off.

"Well, that is the mission." Tony said. "Did you forget?"

"I've moved beyond your mission." Ultron replied. "I'm free."

As he said that, the ground shook beneath them and a vibranium spire came out of the ground, three pieces coming off it and breaking into the ground to lock it in place.

"What?" Ultron said. "You think you're the only one stalling?"

"There's the rest of the vibranium." FRIDAY said. "Function, still unclear."

"This is how you end, Tony." Ultron said. "This is peace in my time."

As he spoke, they could hear explosions and screams coming from the city. Ultron's legionnaires were coming out all over the city and attacking not only the Avengers, but civilians as well.

Izzy took off first, followed by Tony to help protect the civilians. Vision was going to take over with Ultron for now.

Izzy half paid attention through coms as she took out legionnaires to what was going on in the church.

"My Vision." Ultron said. "They really did take everything from me."

Vision's voice was calm, soothing as he spoke. "You set the terms. You can change them." He said.

"Alright." Ultron said.

She could hear a sound of metal clanking, followed by a sound of surprise from Ultron.

"FRIDAY, the Vision?" Tony asked.

"Boss, it's working." FRIDAY said. "He's burning Ultron out of the net. He won't escape through there."

It was quick, Ultron was locked out of the net, but the effort had taxed Vision. Izzy circled back to see Ultron slam Vision into the ground.

"You shut me out!" Ultron said sounding angry. "You think I care? You took away my world, I'm going to take away yours."

He turned something on top of the vibranium spire and there was a loud noise as the ground began to shake and split apart. Wide gaps were breaking apart the roads and splitting buildings over a large radius all over the city.

Izzy flew up higher to get a better look at the area that was being affected.

"Oh my god…" She whispered.

"FRIDAY?" Tony asked quietly.

The AI sounded almost scared as she replied. "Sokovia is going for a ride."

Izzy watched as Ultron rose up into the air, surveying the fruits of his work as she took off in an opposite direction from Tony to survey what was happening as this chunk of Sokovia rose into the air.

"Do you see...the beauty of it? The inevitability." Ultron said. "You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world...will be metal."

Spreading out to different vantage points, FRIDAY used both Tony and Izzy's suits to scan the mechanics underneath the rock.

"The vibranium core has got a magnetic field." FRIDAY said sending the specks to Tony and Izzy. "That's what's keeping the rock together."

"If it drops?" Izzy asked.

"Right now, the impact can kill thousands." FRIDAY said. "Once it gets high enough? Global extinction."

"That building's not clear." FRIDAY said indicating an apartment complex on the edge of the rising rock. "10thfloor."

Tony went to take care of it as FRIDAY told Izzy. "I got airborne heading towards the bridge."

Izzy flew in that direction, taking out several legionnaires but one got through and hit Steve, knocking him into a car.

"Cap you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." Steve replied getting up. "Tony, Isabel, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed... walk it off.

As Izzy flew back through the city to meet up with Tony, she noticed the Hulk had come in. Smiling she passed by causing him to look up and she swore she saw a grin on his face. Clint and Wanda were working together, Natasha had joined Steve and Thor at the bridge, and Pietro was covering the greater distance that the others couldn't get to.

"The anti-gravs are rigged to flip." FRIDAY informed Tony and Izzy as they tried to work out a plan. "Touch them, they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow."

"Spire is vibranium." Tony said. "If I get Thor to hit it..."

"It will crack." FRIDAY replied. "That's not enough. The impact would still be devastating."

"Maybe if we can cap the other end." Izzy offered. "Keep the atomic action doubling back."

"That could vaporize the city." FRIDAY shot it down. "And everyone on it."

"Next wave is going to hit any minute." Steve said. "What do you got Stark?"

Tony sighed. "Well, nothing great." He said. "Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution." Steve said. "Not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second." Tony said in a somber voice. "We're gonna have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere." Natasha said. "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…"

"Not until everyone is safe." Steve replied.

Natasha sounded surprised. "Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math here." She said.

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve replied.

"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha replied. "There are worse ways to go. Where else am I going to get a view like this?"

Izzy felt a coldness that she hadn't felt before spread through her chest. There was such a finality to the way Nat was talking that actually shook her more than she cared to admit.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff." Fury's voice joined their coms. "It's about to get better."

Izzy flew under the rock and came up on the other side near the bridge as Pietro reached the same position. They stared in shock as a helicarrier came up out of the clouds alongside the floating piece of the city.


	48. Chapter 48

**New Chapter! I actually have the next two written but I found the site doesn't upload them correctly if I upload more than one in a 24 hour span so I will release them over the next few days.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Pietro smirked and Izzy laughed in disbelief.

"Nice right?" Fury said. "Pulled her out of the mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve said.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth." Fury replied back.

Izzy grinned, watching the life boats disengage from the side of the carrier.

"This is SHIELD?" Pietro asked as Steve and Natasha walked up. "

"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be." Steve replied.

Pietro looked back at him and then to the carrier. "This is not so bad." He said.

"Let's load 'em up." Steve said.

Izzy noticed the Ultron legionnaires heading towards the helicarrier and took off to intercept. As she reached them, she noticed another surprise friendly had joined the fray. She whooped as Rhodey, in his War Machine armor, taking out the hostiles.

"Now this is going to be a good story." Rhodey said.

"Yep." Tony said taking out a legionnaire on Rhodey's tail. "If you live to tell it."

"You think I can't hold my own?" Rhodey asked.

"If we get through this, I'll hold your own." Tony replied in a teasing voice.

Izzy rolled her eyes at their banter.

"You had to make it weird." Rhodey said.

"Focus up boys." Izzy said taking out three bots that were targeting them. "Dad we still need a plan."

Tony took out a bot trying to take out the carrier's turbines. "I got it." He said. "Create a heat seal. I could…" He took out another bot. "I could supercharge the spire from below."

"Running numbers." FRIDAY said.

A boy damaged one of the life boats and Izzy raced up with Tony to catch it while Rhodey took out the offending bot.

"A heat seal could work with enough power." FRIDAY said.

"Thor, I got a plan." Tony said.

"We're out of time." Thor said. "They're coming for the core."

"Rhodey, get the rest of these people onboard the carrier." Tony said.

"On it." Rhodey replied.

"Avengers," Tony said. "It's time to work for a living."

Izzy raced after Tony, heading towards the church. They landed, joined Thor and Vision in protecting the core, Pietro joined next, followed by Steve. Clint and Wanda came in after him.

"You good?" Pietro asked his sister.

"Yeah." Wanda replied.

Everyone was dirty and exhausted, but they had a job to do.

"Romanoff," Tony said. "You and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini'."

Izzy shook her head.

"Relax shell head." Nat's voice came over coms. "Not all of us can fly." Suddenly a plow truck crashed through the fencing and Natasha ran up. "What's the drill?"

"This is the drill." Tony said pointing to the spire. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Hulk crashed in, ripping a bot in half and joining them as Ultron came down in front of the church.

"Is that the best you can do!" Thor yelled in challenge.

 _No._ Izzy thought mournfully. _Don't ever ask that._

Ultron raised a hand and a wave of innumerable legionnaires swarmed out into their field of view. Everyone stared in shock at the wave.

"You had to ask." Steve said looking at Thor.

"This is the best I can do." Ultron said. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Like the old man said." Tony said looking at Steve, who looked back at him. "Together."

Hulk let out a deafening roar that signaled the beginning of the fight as the legionnaires swarmed the church. The Avengers didn't even have time to think, only react as they played defend the flag, protecting the spire. There were too many close calls to count, at the last minute someone would stop a legionnaire from reaching the spire while everyone tried to cover each other and themselves. Tony took out a bot that got too close to Wanda, Hulk ripped one in half with his teeth, Vision crushed one, Izzy crashed through three of them at once before one grabbed her and pinned her to the ground. Before it could fire at her head, Pietro hit it at such high speeds it broke apart, Izzy instantly returning the favor by blasting the head off one aiming at Pietro.

Finally, Ultron joined the fight, diving for the spire but Vision intercepted him, knocking him back. Using the Mind Stone, he fired a beam of energy into Ultron, knocking him out of the church. Thor joined, directing lightning at Ultron as Tony and Izzy joined in blasting him with their repulsors as well. When Ultron collapsed, they let up, seeing his face and pieces of him melted.

"You know." Ultron said. "With the benefit of hindsight—"

Whatever he was going to say was absorbed as Hulk's fist connected with him, sending him flying in a scene similar to a Loony Toons episode. Hulk turned to the remaining legionnaires and growled at them causing them to flee.

"They'll try to leave the city." Thor said.

"We can't let them." Tony said. "Not even one. Rhodey!"

"I'm on it." Rhodey replied. "Oh no, I didn't say you could leave. War Machine coming at you."

Vision, Tony, and Izzy flew in to help, Vision breaking through one of the bots in front of Rhodey.

"Okay…" Rhodey said seeing Vision for the first time. "What?"

"We gotta move out." Steve said as Izzy landed to check on them before she went back to Tony. "Even I can tell the air's getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

"What about the core?" Clint asked.

"I'll protect it." Wanda said

Clint looked at Wanda.

Wanda looked back at him. "It's my job." She said.

Clint nodded somberly and Izzy was curious about what transpired between them. "Nat." Clint said motioning for them to go.

Steve took off too.

"Be careful." Izzy offered and flew off as Pietro showed up. She met up with Tony as he circled underneath the rock.

"Boss," FRIDAY implored. "Power levels are way below—"

"Reroute everything." Tony said. "We get one shot at this."

Tony and Izzy used the laser cutters in their gauntlets to cut a hole big enough for them to get inside to the bottom side of the core.

"Thor, we need you back in the church." Izzy said.

"Is this the last of them?" Thor asked Steve, referencing the civilians.

"Yeah." Steve said. "Everyone else is on the carrier."

"You know if this work," Tony said in a surprisingly calm voice. "We maybe don't walk away."

"Maybe not." Thor said.

Tony spoke with Izzy next. "Sweetheart you should go to the carrier." He said softly.

Izzy looked at Tony, staring into his faceplate and she knew he was looking at her too. "Not a chance." She replied bravely. Surprisingly, the concept of not making it wasn't so scary with him there with her.

Before she could contemplate it further, she got several notifications in her HUD. Thor, Steve, and Clint all had massive spikes in their vitals and suddenly Pietro's readings stopped. Something had just gone horribly wrong.

The next notification told her Wanda had moved from position and was no longer in the church.

"FRIDAY, activate it." She said in a strained voice as the magnetic field pushed against her suit.

Suddenly, the anti-gravs flipped and went down causing Tony and Izzy to be pressed against it as it plummeted back to the ground. Flying down ahead of it and then reversing back so they could be aligned with the hole they created, they used the reactors in their chest plates to fire into the spire.

"Thor, on my mark." Tony said. "NOW!"

Thor brought his hammer down on the other end in the church and the blast broke the rock apart in a massive explosion sending them flying. Tony grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way of the spire coming towards the Earth. They dodged the falling pieces quickly, Izzy breaking off to get Thor, who had fallen into the water below.

Vision got Wanda to safety and then went after the last Ultron. Everyone else was on the carrier. It was over, finally.


	49. Chapter 49

**Okay all, here is the end to Age of Ultron and the reveal of whether Pietro lives or dies. I hope you all enjoy.**

 **As always please review :)**

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Izzy carried a tray with two plates of food down a hall in Avenger's Tower, which was still under maintenance after everything with Ultron. It was still hard to believe that it had been two weeks since Sokovia. Clint was going to be heading back to his farm in a few days because he wanted to spend time with his family before Laura's due date, but he was really hoping to get some good news on their new recruits before he left.

Izzy knocked on the door at the end of the hall and walked in seeing Wanda exactly where she had last seen her, at Pietro's side. The speedster had been in a coma since he took the bullets that had been aimed for Clint, and though it was slower than Wanda would have liked, he was making improvements every day. He was still intubated to help him breathe, he was on IVs and he was restrained so he didn't suddenly wake and rip something out, but over all not too bad.

"Hey." Izzy said softly as Wanda looked up at her. "I thought you might want some dinner. We got Chinese food, I wasn't sure what you liked so I put a little of everything on here."

Wanda smiled faintly, she had steadily warmed towards them since the battle, but she was still not completely there yet. "Thank you." She said.

"Do you mind if I sit too?" Izzy asked.

Wanda shook her head and motioned to the chair on the opposite side of the bed.

Izzy set the tray down on the table near Wanda, taking her own plate and drink off it before moving around the bed. Everyone else was eating upstairs, though everyone had attempted to get Wanda to join them, she refused to leave her twin, which they all could understand.

"How are you holding up?" Izzy asked taking a bite of her lo mein.

"I would be better when he wakes up." Wanda admitted.

Izzy nodded. "I know it seems slow, but he really is making progress." She said. Dr. Cho had left her in charge of monitoring his vitals while she went back to Seoul, so Izzy saw the twins the most over the last two weeks.

"Thank you for all that you've done." Wanda said.

"It's not hard to read a screen." Izzy said lightly with a shrug.

Wanda shook her head. "Not just that." She said. "You saved his life."

Izzy knew she had been talking about that. To everyone's surprise, Izzy had been working on a design with Dr. Cho for the last six months to put components of the cradle into a suit design for a case such as this where an Avenger would get badly injured and they were too far from help to get them medical treatment. She had activated the suit when she saw Pietro's vitals disappear and the suit had come in to engulf Pietro, scaring Clint to death but FRIDAY had explained what was happening before Clint or Steve could break the suit. However, the suit was not completely finished, and it had kept him alive and healed him enough to bring him back to the tower, but it wasn't enough to completely do the job. Now it was just a waiting game for when Pietro was ready to wake up.

"It's nothing." Izzy said quietly. "You and your brother are heroes, part of the team."

Wanda's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "We caused so much of what happened though." She said.

"You helped fix it." Izzy said. "So, it doesn't matter. We have a lot more to regret than you do."

About a week after they got back from Sokovia, Tony and Izzy had sat with Wanda and they discussed what happened when the twins had become orphans. They explained about what Obadiah had done, selling weapons without their authorization, but they offered nothing but remorse and sorrow over what had happened to the twins because of weapons created by them.

"Truly I think I was angrier than Pietro." Wanda said looking at her brother. "He tends to let things pass easier than me. We know it wasn't your fault, that you didn't fire the missile."

Things were not perfect between them by any stretch of imagination, but at least they no longer wanted Tony and Izzy dead.

The girls sat in companionable silence for a while as they ate, the steady beeps from the monitors the only sound. After a while, Wanda yawned.

"You know, I could stay with him for a bit if you wanted to take a shower and get a nap in." Izzy offered. "I don't mind. I'll have FRIDAY get you immediately if something changes."

Wanda seemed unsure, but after a second, she nodded. "Thank you." She said and left, taking the tray and dishes with her.

Izzy pulled out her phone, curling up in the chair as she settled in. Out of habit, she hummed her favorite lullaby to herself as she sat.

After an hour, FRIDAY informed her softly that Wanda was sleeping peacefully. Izzy smiled, the poor girl was burned out, she really needed to sleep in a bed, not in the chair in the medical wing.

Clint and Tony checked in after a while but didn't stay long.

Izzy was just getting ready to work on her designs for suits for the twins when the monitors alerted her to a change in Pietro's heart rhythm. She nearly fell out of her chair as Pietro started, eyes opening.

She took one look at the sudden fear in his eyes and she was at his side as he pulled against the restraints. "Hey, you're okay." She said placing a hand on his and the other on his chest over his heart. "Focus on me, listen to my voice, you're okay."

His bright blue eyes met her warm brown ones and he seemed to recognize her through the fog in his brain.

"Shh…" She said softly brushing his hair back from his forehead in a soothing manner as he calmed down, his heart rate slowing beneath her fingers. "You're okay."

The monitor showed his vitals coming back down slowly, his eyes moving to the chair Wanda had been in.

"Wanda is fine." Izzy said knowing that he had probably been able to sense her there. "She's sleeping. I'll have FRIDAY get her."

His eyes looked around the room, head movements restricted by the tube in his mouth, and then back at her, brows furrowed in question.

"You're back at Avenger's Tower in New York." She said. "This tube has been helping you breathe since you've been in a coma."

His eyebrows raised.

"Two weeks." She said knowing the question.

He looked thoughtful, then his eyes narrowed.

Izzy was surprised he was so expressive, she had no trouble guessing what he wanted to know. "We'll talk about the battle when you're better." She said gently.

FRIDAY informed them that Wanda was on her way down. When she arrived, Izzy left them alone, so she could inform the others and call Dr. Cho.

It was a flurry of activity once Pietro woke up. He wouldn't be allowed to leave the infirmary for at least a week but it definitely an improvement to everyone's mood to know that he was out of the coma.

Wanda, Izzy, and Clint took turns staying with him while the others rotated out with coming to see him when they were at the tower. Tony, Steve, and Natasha were busy getting things ready upstate, so they weren't there as much.

One night, nearing the end of the week in the infirmary it was just Izzy and the twins in tower since Clint had to go home and the others were busy. Izzy swapped out with Wanda so the other girl could shower and go get dinner, picking out what she and Pietro would like from the vast selection of leftovers and fresh food upstairs. Izzy wasn't planning on eating until later, so she offered to stay.

Pietro was asleep, so she settled in like the first night when he woke up, pulling out her phone. She had been trying to track where Bruce had taken the quinjet but so far, she was striking out, she and Tony had done too good of a job on the stealth mode.

Pietro shifted restlessly in his sleep, which he had done before. Without thinking, Izzy reached out just resting a hand on his arm, humming softly. Wanda had told her that he was suffering from nightmares, but she didn't know what about though she could guess. After a minute, Pietro calmed but instead of remaining asleep, he opened his eyes.

"Hey." She said offering a smile. "Wanda will be back, she's bringing you dinner."

He nodded thoughtfully. She could still see the nightmare clinging in his eyes.

"I hope you like pizza." She said lightly. "I kind of went overboard this afternoon cooking so we have like thirty pizzas upstairs though I'm sure Thor and Steve will eat like half."

He smiled as he sat up grateful for the distraction. "I can eat." He said. "You know you don't have to sit with me, the doctor doesn't think I will drop dead anytime soon."

"Hopefully not at all." Izzy replied. "I don't mind. It makes Wanda feel better, so she can take care of herself too." She paused. "If you don't want me here, I can leave though."

He shook his head. "I don't mind." He said. "I like it when you're here, you sing beautifully."

Izzy blushed, having not known that he was listening. "Thank you." She said shyly. Tony and Peggy were really the only ones that she sang around, even Rhodey and Pepper rarely heard her sing.

Pietro smiled at her blush. But after a second, he looked at her seriously. "Wanda told me last night how I survived." He said. "Thank you for saving my life."

"You don't have to thank me." She said. "You saved my life first, remember?"

Pietro's eyes widened, like he had forgotten about when they had first come face to face.

"I suppose I'm curious…" Izzy said. "Why did you save me? If you knew who I was and you guys had this grudge, why not let the guard kill me?"

Pietro didn't respond right away. "I don't know." He finally admitted. "I just reacted without thinking."

This was interesting, it was really the same instinct that allowed him to save Clint in Sokovia, risking his own life. The twins had hero instincts from the beginning.

Lapsing into silence, Izzy noticed that he seemed to fidget. She knew he hated being in the room, he only stayed for Wanda's sake to prevent her worrying, but he had so much pent up energy. "How about we go join your sister upstairs." She offered. He looked up hopefully. "You're supposed to get out tomorrow but tonight should be okay. FRIDAY tell Wanda to stay up there."

Izzy went around to Pietro's side keeping a supporting hand on his back as he swung his legs over the side. It was quite amazing, despite how long he had been down because of his high metabolism and enhancements his muscles were as strong as ever, no sign of atrophy, but they had learned he needed to consume a high amount of food in order to maintain his strength.

Keeping a hand on his arm, so he didn't take off running, they moved together down the hall to the elevator. They rode the elevator in comfortable silence and when they reached the top floor, Wanda was smiling with excitement to see her brother up and moving finally.

They all sat down to eat, Izzy putting aside her plans to work in the lab for a while.

"So, what is going to happen now?" Wanda asked.

Izzy looked up. "Well, once Dr. Cho clears you guys, we go upstate." She said. "We've been working on something for a while and everyone is anxious to start."

"So, what happens to us?" Pietro asked. "With the team?"

"What do you want to happen?" Izzy asked curiously. They all wanted them on the team but if that wasn't what they wanted then no one would force them.

The twins exchanged a look.

 **In the interest of time…**

Izzy watched the trees go by from the passenger seat of the Audi sports car, Tony in the driver's seat. She loved the drive up to the Avengers compound, it was relaxing. She fiddled with the end of her red tank top, her black jacket sitting on her lap.

"Are you sure about this?" Tony asked.

"Just as sure as the last time you asked me." Izzy said with a laugh. "I should be asking you though, retirement didn't suit you the last time you attempted it."

Tony smiled. He was sure.

When they got to the compound, they sought out Thor and Steve. Thor was heading back to Asgard today and they had a lot to discuss about the risk of the Infinity Stones but somehow, they had ended up talking about something else entirely.

"The rules have changed." Steve said thoughtfully.

"We're dealing with something new." Tony agreed.

"The Vision is artificial intelligence." Steve said.

"A machine." Izzy added.

Steve looked at them. "So, it doesn't count?" He said.

"No, it's not like a person lifting the hammer." Tony said.

"Right, different rules for us." Steve said

"He can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone." Thor said. "It's safe with the Vision. And these days, safe is in short supply."

There was a pause in the small group.

"But if you put the hammer in an elevator..." Steve said.

"It would still go up." Tony said.

"Elevator's not worthy." Izzy said.

Thor smiled. "I'm gonna miss these little talks of ours." He said.

"Not if you don't leave." Izzy pointed out with an adorable pout.

"Baby that pout is lethal." Tony said with a laugh as Thor squirmed.

Thor sighed. "I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It's not a coincidence." He said. "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee." Tony said.

They had reached the lawn of the complex at this point.

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked.

"I do." Thor said. He tapped Tony on the chest and stepped forward. "Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained." He raised his hammer and they watched as the BiFrost came down to take Thor away leaving a massive intricate ring pattern burned into the ground.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance." Tony griped. "I'm gonna miss him, though." He moved over as the car pulled up. "And you're gonna miss me." He said to Steve. "There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

Izzy chuckled.

"I will miss you, Tony." Steve said.

"Yeah?" Tony said. "Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book. Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up."

"The simple life." Steve said.

"You'll get there one day." Tony said.

"I don't know. Family, stability..." Steve said. "The guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago. I think someone else came out."

Tony stood next to the car. He looked at Steve.

"You all right?" Tony asked.

Steve looked out at the complex. "I'm home." He replied.

"Sure you can handle her?" Tony asked motioning to Izzy who gave him an indignant expression.

"We'll be fine here." Steve said. "Right, Zee?"

Izzy's eyes widened. "That's the first time you haven't called me Isabel!" She said and threw her arms around Steve in delight.

Steve laughed and rolled his eyes.

Tony smiled. He and Izzy hugged quickly, and she watched him drive off.

Izzy turned to Steve, looking up at him with an expectant expression, smiling. He smiled back and motioned for her to follow him.

They found Natasha in an empty room, staring thoughtfully into the distance. They had gotten word that baby Nathanial had been born happy and healthy, but Clint wasn't coming back to the team, officially retiring as well to spend more time with his family.

"You wanna keep staring at the wall or do you wanna go to work?" Steve said. "I mean it's a pretty interesting wall."

Natasha turned back. "I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes." She replied easily as she walked towards them.

Izzy rolled her eyes. It wasn't hard to see the attraction between the two, but she kept her mouth shut, following them out of the room.

"How do we look?" Natasha asked as Steve handed her a tablet.

"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees." Steve said.

"We got some hitters." Izzy said looking over at the list.

"They're good." Steve said. "They're not a team."

Natasha smiled. "Let's beat them into shape." She said.

They came out onto a walkway overlooking a large training area with a massive window in place of one wall. Turning at their entrance, Rhodey, Sam, Vision, and the Twins all looked up at them.

Izzy smiled down at them, excited about the potential of this new team.

Steve called out. "Avengers—"


	50. Chapter 50

**Hi all! So this chapter was much longer than I had intended it to be. I got really caught up in writing fluff in the beginning, believe it or not it was longer initially. I really love the Devil Wears Prada and thats where the term Clackers comes from. Hope you guys enjoy this! If you watch the Fantastic Four (spoiler alert) they end up continuing to work with the government in the end and that is going to play in later in the story so I promise there is a point. Next chapter is a brief mention of Ant-Man and then we are on to Civil War!**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Izzy was driving probably a lot faster than she should down the freeway heading from the compound to the city. She had errands to run for a benefit that Stark Industries was throwing for the NYC firefighter and police departments tomorrow. They had to be done today, well actually Pepper said she wanted them done a week ago, but Izzy had been in South America with Natasha on an Avengers mission. So now she was late, and Pepper was upset.

Glancing to the right, she spied her companion for the trip. What madness overcame her to bring Pietro along on an errand run she had no idea, but he had been cooped up at the compound since they were the only ones not on missions right now. Well, Natasha wasn't but she didn't want to deal with his hyperactive snarkiness at the moment. Also, he had given her such a pitiful look when he asked to come with her to the city that she couldn't refuse.

It wasn't all bad, they turned the radio up loud and Pietro didn't freak out with her driving at high speeds and they typically had fun together.

"So what things do you have to get?" Pietro asked as she slowed down approaching the bridge.

"I have to finalize a couple lists, we can just go to the SI office for that." She said. "And I need to go pick up my dress and shoes for the event."

"If it's for charity, why spend so much money for clothes that you wear once?" Pietro asked.

 _That's fair._ She thought. "It is really counterproductive but the rich people that we invite to these things tend to give more if we throw a lavish party. I auction my dress off afterwards for the charity too." She said. "If it we're up to me we'd have no party, and everyone would just give money to a good cause without being plied with wine and fancy snacks."

They went to get her dress first because that was the thing needing her attention first. The event planners weren't in the city yet.

Izzy parked the Lamborghini in front of the Dior NYC office and gave the keys to the valet. They walked inside together, Pietro looking around in interest at the large building. Their sneakers squeaked softly on the marble floors and she noticed some of the high fashion people, particularly the clackers turning their noses up at the two.

They weren't dressed terribly, just comfortably. However, she knew how these people thought so wasn't surprised at their snooty attitudes.

"Couriers around back." The girl at the front desk said without looking up as they headed for the elevators.

Pietro frowned and looked at Izzy, but she just grinned and diverted to walk over to the desk. She casually leaned her elbows on the desk and waited for the woman to look up. When she finally did, they watched the color drain from her face.

"I'm here to pick up a gown for Isabel Stark." Izzy said innocently and Pietro chuckled quietly.

"Yes, Miss. Stark." The woman said quickly standing. "Right this way."

"I know my way thanks." Izzy said holding up her hand, glancing at her name tag. "Jennifer."

They went to the elevators and Izzy pressed the correct floor button.

"I thought she was going to pass out." Pietro commented.

"Sometimes they need a little reminder not to be so judgmental." Izzy said with a shrug.

The designer wanted to do a quick fitting to make sure everything was okay before they could take the dress and shoes. After changing, Izzy walked out with the designer. "Amazing as always Alma." She praises the designer.

"Thank you, Miss. Stark, I hope to see you for the next event." Alma said sweetly.

"Of course." Izzy smiled. As she turned, she tried not to laugh as she saw a young assistant shamelessly flirting with Pietro, who seemed amused by the whole thing, if a bit disinterested. As the assistant reached up to touch his hair Izzy walked forward. "Are you ready to go?"

Pietro immediately turned, offering her a smile.

Seeing Izzy, the assistant immediately backed off, scurrying away.

Pietro took the garment bag from her, effortlessly carrying it over one shoulder as they went to leave.

"You're quite popular." She commented as they got in the car.

"What can I say?" He said with a shrug. "I am very handsome."

Izzy laughed. "And oh, so humble." She teased back as she pulled away from the building.

The meetings at SI was quick and painless and they had a lot of daylight left so Izzy looked at Pietro as they waited for valet. "Anywhere you want to go or anything you need?" She asked.

He shrugged with a small shake of his head.

Because everything seemed so slow to him, Pietro was easily impatient, however, he was also easy to please. He was overall pretty happy and didn't need much except things to entertain him.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. "I know this wonderful Thai place close to the Tower that we can go to. I'm dying for drunken noodles."

After dropping her dress and the confirmed event plans off at the tower so Pepper could see them, they decided to just walk to the restaurant.

It was nearing the end of spring, so the days were getting warmer. Izzy was enjoying it immensely, she hated being cold. They got to the restaurant, a little hole in the wall place with amazing spicy aromas floating around at all times. They got a seat near the back while they waited for their order.

"So how are you doing lately?" Izzy asked. It had only been a month since the move to the compound and they had been so busy she hadn't had time to ask how he was adjusting.

"It's been good." Pietro said with a roll of his eyes. "Everyone needs to not worry."

"You're part of a team now dude." She said with a laugh. "All we do is worry."

Pietro was about to reply but someone else spoke nearby.

"Zee, what are you doing in the city?" They turned and Izzy smiled.

"Johnny." She said standing to hug her friend. "Haven't seen you in ages."

"Yeah since just before your last party got a little out of control." Johnny said.

She winced at the memory of Ultron's appearance. "Yeah it was nuts." She said. She turned. "Johnny, this is Pietro a friend, he works with me at the compound." The subtle way of saying he was an Avenger. "Pietro, this is Johnny, he's one of my oldest friends."

The boys shook hands, but it didn't escape her notice them subtly sizing one another up.

"You picking up an order?" Izzy asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, Sue was craving this place." Johnny said.

Izzy looked at Pietro. "His sister." She explained. She looked back at Johnny. "How are things going?"

"We have our first test tonight with a live subject." Johnny said. "Everyone is excited."

"You figured out how to bring something back?" Izzy said frowning slightly.

Johnny shrugged. "They think so." He said. "Some government sponsors are coming to watch."

"Johnny." She said seriously. "You know this project is crazy right? It's dangerous."

"No more dangerous than a murderous robot." Johnny pointed out.

"Way more." Izzy replied. "A robot with weapons we can quantify, not a portal to who knows where that can bring who knows what through. Johnny, you and Sue need to step away from this project."

"If I leave now, I don't get my car back." Johnny said simply. "And this is something Sue and our dad have worked for, for a long time. They aren't going to step away."

Izzy felt the frustration building inside of her. "So, you're going to put yourself and your sister in danger for a car?" She demanded.

Irritation flashed across Johnny's face. "You put everyone in danger when you created Ultron." He replied keeping his voice low to avoid drawing attention. "Not like you cared to think about everyone when that happened."

Izzy was too angry to feel hurt by that comment, but they heard the call that their order was up. "You know what, we aren't perfect, but we have done nothing but try to protect the world. At least we didn't do something risky over a damn car." She replied and went to grab the food, Pietro silently following.

Pietro opened the door for her, and she quickly brushed a hand over her cheeks to clear the tears she felt forming. They went back to the tower in silence. Once they were back, Izzy went to the kitchen to grab plates and forks so they could eat, Pietro still being a silent presence shadowing her.

"Does he make you cry like that a lot?" Pietro finally asked quietly.

Izzy froze as she set the plates on the counter. "No." She said. "I'm sorry you had to meet him like that. Johnny is normally so sweet but this project that he and his sister are working on has been a source of contention between us for a while." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, which was getting very long. "Normally we can play it off but ever since Ultron…"

"It scares you." Pietro said.

Izzy nodded. "I'm sorry I know this isn't what you signed up for when you asked to come today." She said laughing slightly. "I promise I'm not always this much drama."

Pietro shook his head. "Somehow I think you are always some kind of drama." He teased with a small smirk making her laugh quietly. His expression sobered. "You don't have to apologize for caring about your friends." He said taking her hand in his.

She smiled with a little more joy at him. He smiled back apparently happy that she was cheering up more. She squeezed his hand back.

The moment was broken however as they heard the elevator ding. Pulling her hand back, Izzy went to see who was there. Tony and Pepper were just getting back from London.

"Hey kiddo, I didn't know you were here." Tony said. "What smells good?"

"Thai." She replied. "Pietro is here. We were just gonna dish up, you guys hungry?"

Izzy and Pietro had just ended up staying at the tower for the night since it was getting late. They didn't have anything pressing to do at the compound, so they told Natasha they were staying there and would come back after the benefit.

After Tony and Pepper went to bed, Izzy and Pietro stayed up to watch a show that Izzy had turned him on to at the compound. They were halfway through season two when she drifted off to sleep on the sofa. She woke up a few hours later feeling her chest constricting with panic, her nightmares still clawing at the edge of her consciousness. Sitting up quickly, she took in her surroundings.

Finally getting her bearings, she would have laughed at seeing Pietro with a giant bowl of popcorn, completely focused on the tv, well into the series, but she just felt too sick.

"You okay?" Pietro asked looking up and taking in her expression. He paused the show and zipped over to her quickly, brushing her hair back from her face, kneeling next to the sofa.

"Yeah." She said gasping a little. "I'm okay, I just…"

Pietro noticed her look longingly at the balcony and took her hand, pulling her to her feet, guiding her towards it. They stepped outside together, and Izzy gratefully took in deep breaths of the night air.

"Nightmare." Pietro said. It wasn't a question.

She nodded and pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket, frowning when she read no new notifications. Johnny hadn't been returning her calls or texts and it was eating her up inside.

"It's your friend." Pietro said observantly. "You're still worried."

She nodded leaning against the railing, feeling like a thousand pounds was pulling her down.

Pietro was about to say something when they both heard and felt an explosion rip through the night air. They looked up quickly, startled and saw a large skyscraper several blocks over was smoking.

"Oh my god." She whispered. "That's the Baxter Foundation." Pietro didn't understand its significance. "That's where Sue and Johnny are."

It took her three days to locate her friends. After that night Johnny and Sue has been listed as missing, along with some of their team, Reed Richards and Victor von Doom. The next day Reed's childhood friend Ben Grimm was reported missing as well.

They were being held in a secure government lab, which was essentially a black site, but Izzy had managed to track it down after locating Franklin Storm.

Izzy and Tony stood side by side staring through the viewing screen at Johnny, who was constantly engulfed in flames, like a man created from the sun. Sue wasn't much better as she was fluctuating between holding a visible form and not.

"Oh my god Johnny." Izzy muttered softly.

"What happened?" Tony demanded looking at Franklin.

Izzy listened to the rundown of the events of that night. The stupid risks that they had taken, now Victor was presumed dead and the other four had powers that no one understood.

"This is all your fault." Izzy said with venom in her voice turning to Franklin. "If you had listened to us from the beginning a boy wouldn't be dead and those kids, including two of yours, wouldn't be struggling with the fallout of powers they don't understand and can't control."

Tony gripped her arms in a warning to calm down. She turned back to the window to stare at Johnny, the anger burning in her chest reflective of the flames that cling to her friend.

"I agreed to being you here in the hopes that you could help." Franklin told them. "They aren't stable and if there is a way to change their condition, I need to find it."

Izzy could see Tony looking at her in the glass. She nodded stiffly.

Tony turned back to Franklin. "We'll help you— "

"No." Izzy said turning back to the two adults. "I'll help _them,_ but these projects stop here and now."

Had she been less angry and terrified, she would have felt bad at the pain she saw in Franklin Storm's face. This man had come so close to losing his children and still didn't completely have them back, he already blamed himself

Izzy wanted to bring them back to the Avengers compound so they would be protected, but the government wasn't too keen on that. So, gathering as much data as they could Tony and Izzy were able to create suits that helped contain Sue and Johnny's powers and made it possible for them to control their abilities. Reed had disappeared from the facility, so they weren't able to help him, and Izzy found out quickly that the government had roped Ben into working for them. They wouldn't let her near Ben.

For months Johnny and Sue declined to help but that all changed one day with Johnny. Izzy got word that Johnny was being put into the test phases to start going on missions. She immediately went to the facility and found her friend. "You cannot be serious." She demanded as she walked up to him. "You're working for them now?"

"Gotta do something with these powers." Johnny said with a shrug. "They obviously aren't making progress in taking them away."

"This is what they are hoping for." She said. "You'll be nothing more than their pawn."

"Look, I have simulations to run." Johnny said. "I don't want a lecture right now."

"I'm not lecturing." Izzy said placing her hands in his chest, feeling tears pricking the backs of her eyes as she stared up at him. "I'm begging you not to do this. Johnny, please."

With only a brief flicker of reservations in his eyes, she saw the anger burning in his gaze and she knew she had lost him to this.

"I'm not stopping." Johnny said taking her hands and forcing her to take a step back. The hurt in her face made him pause and explain. "I don't want to burn you." With that his whole body went up in flames and he took off into the air.

It was a week later that Izzy was in the quinjet with a few of the Avengers, heading back from a mission, that FRIDAY informed her of a problem.

"A what?!" Izzy cried, startling the others.

"A singularity has formed on Earth." FRIDAY repeated. She gave the coordinates and Izzy's stomach sunk.

"What formed?" Steve asked.

"A black hole." Izzy said. "I know this location, I know what caused it. I'll go."

She activated the ramp while they were still flying but Steve caught her arm before she could get her suit.

"You aren't going alone." Steve said.

"I will go as well." Vision offered. "We will be able to reach it faster than the jet."

Steve didn't like it but nodded. "We'll be there as soon as we can." He said.

Izzy nodded and let the suit close around her. She and Vision took off towards the location of the black hole.

Amazingly, when they arrived, the black hole was closing and all that remained was a massive crater and what looked like a vortex closing in the sky.

"Look." Izzy indicated something coming down from the closing hole in the sky. She and Vision flew over to intercept the unknown, but Izzy had a guess on who it was.

Landing, Izzy looked at the four enhanced she had been studying for the last seven months.

"You know…" Johnny said stepping forward with Sue. "I think I should have listened to your lecture."

Izzy stepped out of her suit and immediately enveloped them both in her arms. "Thank god you guys are okay." She said as they embraced her back.


	51. Chapter 51

**Okay, kind of offsetting the last two long chapters, this one is much shorter. I wanted to just touch that the Avengers were aware of strangeness happening with Pym Tech and it made sense to me that Izzy would have looked in to Howard's activity in SHIELD. Also at the end I wanted to throw in some happy fluff before it all crashes.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

The police tape was still up surrounding what looked to be an empty lot. There were cracks in the cement, and signs of fires that had managed to catch but were quickly extinguished. The only thing remaining on the lot to indicate that something had stood there once was the sign closer to the street that said Pym Tech.

Izzy took her sunglasses off as she stared out the window of her car. The Avengers had been alerted to a strange occurrence at the research facility in San Francisco and since Izzy had been the closest Steve asked her to go survey the scene.

She was instantly curious because Pym Tech was a constant presence that Stark Industries kept an eye on for competition purposes, but also because Hank Pym had worked with Howard Stark and Peggy Carter in their SHIELD days. Hank Pym also seemed to have a deep hatred for Starks, which Izzy didn't understand but figured it had something to do with Howard.

Though Steve didn't know about the breach, Izzy had found out about an incident that Sam hadn't been able to handle involving some stolen equipment from the Avenger's compound in New York. What Sam had described had sounded similar to the Ant-Man suit that Hank Pym was famous for in SHIELD.

There weren't many records of it because Hank had taken most of it when he left SHIELD, but Howard had documented some of what he knew, and Izzy had been able to salvage those records.

As she sat there, she noticed someone walking up to the car. Putting her sunglasses on and checking her reflection in the mirror quickly, adjusting her hair casually, she rolled the window down and turned to face the man. She took one look at him and knew: cop.

"Miss, this is an active crime scene I need you to move along." He said.

She took note of his detective badge at his waste and she offered a charming and confused smile. "I'm sorry sir, can you tell me what happened?" She asked. "I was supposed to have a meeting with Darren Cross today and…well there is no building…"

"I'm sorry Miss, I can't talk about our investigation." The man said. "I need you to move along okay?"

"Sure." She said. "Thank you, officer."

The officer stepped back, and she rolled up the window pulling away from the curb and down the street. "FRIDAY, call the compound." She said as she drove.

"What did you find?" Steve asked.

"I'm not sure." Izzy said. "It's almost as if the building was just sucked in to nothing."

"It's not something like the black hole from a couple months ago was it?" Steve asked.

"No…" She said frowning. "That would have kept growing and sucked in part of the ground too. It's like the building shrunk until it became too small to see."

She could _hear_ Steve frowning. "For what it's worth, I don't think it's something that we need to worry about right this minute." She offered.

"Okay." Steve said. "We'll monitor it. How soon can you be back at the compound?"

"I'll be there in a couple hours." She said. "I have to stop at Star Industries before I come back."

It was late afternoon when she arrived back at the compound. She disembarked the helicopter and walked inside, stifling a yawn. It had been a long day and it was still eating at her brain the mystery of the missing building.

Wanting food, she diverted to the common area. She could have sworn she felt Pietro race past her, but he didn't stop so she shrugged. As she got closer, she saw all the lights on and there was a buzz of noise coming from the room. Raising her eyebrows, she curiously followed the sound.

Walking in she heard a loud chorus of "Happy Birthday!" and she stared in shock at the Avengers, along with Tony, Pepper, Clint, Johnny, and Sue. They had decorations, there was a massive cake and tons of her favorite foods.

"Oh my god." Izzy said with a laugh. "You guys didn't have to do this."

"Of course, we did." Pepper said. "It's your sixteenth birthday."

Tony walked over and hugged her tightly. "Happy birthday baby." He said.

Izzy hugged him back, joyful tears coming to her eyes. "Thank you everyone." She said.

Everyone converged on her for hugs and celebrations when Tony stepped back. Izzy smiled and blushed and laughed as the party went on. She smiled at Tony and he looked back at her, understanding her feeling, their family had gotten much bigger in the last seven years.


	52. Chapter 52

**Hi guys, here is another chapter. The next one probably won't be up until Thursday because because I have a busy week. I haven't decided if I am going to make Izzy and Pietro a couple, but I'm enjoying writing them flirting with each other. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy stood in the kitchen of common area at the compound measuring out flour for a batch of cookies. Sam and the others had been bugging her for the last three weeks to make cookies, but she hadn't had time while splitting her focus between Avengers and Stark Industries. Pepper really wanted her to take a more vested interest in the daily goings on at the company so when she turned eighteen, she could take over if she wanted to. Izzy never really saw that happening but especially over the last couple weeks since Pepper really wasn't around anymore except in the business sense it had been something that was draining her energy to maintain.

She understood. Really, she did, Pepper had gone through hell the last eight years with the start of Iron Man to Izzy becoming an Avenger, and though he wasn't actively involved in the fight anymore, Tony had still continued on with developing tech and building suits. Pepper was tired of it and she was tired of broken promises that things would change. None of that made it any easier for Tony or Izzy to deal with her leaving.

Things had been so crazy in her life but on top of everything the one thing that was really screwing with her head was a certain speedster.

It started out small, a brush on the back of a hand, sitting a little closer than normal, a hug that lasted a little longer, maybe brushing her hair behind her ear. Izzy wasn't imagining it, she knew something was different in the way Pietro behaved towards her. He was a flirt, she knew this, but it wasn't just that. She didn't mind it per se but there had been no time to actually talk about what was happening. They were more often than not on opposite missions lately and when she was back, she wasn't always at the compound.

As she pulled a pan of cookies out of the oven, she felt the air shift suddenly. She turned around knowing who she would see.

"Yes, cookies!" Pietro said reaching for one.

"Nope!" She smacked his hand away. "They need to sit for a second or you're going to get crumbs everywhere."

He just grinned at her and leaned against the counter to watch her continue baking. The twins had changed a lot, they had celebrated their eighteenth birthdays last month and they had settled in fairly well into the team. They were still learning, and they had a few bad habits but overall much improved and much more social.

"Not at the company today?" He asked.

"No." She said. "Finally, a day off."

Pietro nodded his blue eyes searching hers.

Last time she had seen him, she hadn't exactly been in her best frame of mind. Pepper had just left, Izzy had been on a crazy mission with Rhodey and Vision, and she hadn't slept in three days. Pietro had come to her lab in the compound to get her for dinner to find her sobbing into her arms on the table, too worked up to be able to tell him what was wrong. He had covered for her with the others and proceeded to sit with her for an hour until she was calm enough to talk. She didn't go into detail and he didn't ask, just offered a calm presence, a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on. When she had finally become so worn down, she was drifting off he carried her to her room and tucked her into bed before leaving her to sleep.

It was yet another thing they didn't talk about.

"No training?" Izzy asked as she measured out some sugar.

"No, Steve and Natasha are away right now." Pietro said while studying what she was doing.

"Wanna help?" She offered.

He moved around the island counter to join her and she gave him instructions on measuring the dry ingredients. She was making five times the amount she normally did so they would last a little longer. As she handed over the measuring cup, turning to get the next tray out of the oven, she felt the subtle brush of his fingers in hers again.

Not commenting, she put on an oven mitt and grabbed the tray out.

"Where is Wanda today?" Izzy asked. She hadn't seen anyone since she got back so she didn't know how everyone was doing yet.

"She is practicing with Vision." Pietro said with a grimace.

Izzy tried very hard to school her smile. Wanda and Vision had gotten very close lately and Pietro didn't really like it. "That'll be good for her." She said in reply as she put cookies on the cooling rack.

"I don't like that they spend so much time together." He said with a frown.

"Well they are teammates." Izzy said pulling out some more eggs from the fridge and joining him at the island again.

"Not what I meant." He said. "He's not even human."

"Means she can't get knocked up." Izzy replied just for the golden response that was his expression. She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're such an egg head."

"I am not." He said.

Acting on impulse, Izzy brought up the egg in her hand and cracked it on his head, the yolk breaking and coating the curls on his head.

Pietro stared at her in shock, but she bit her lower lip, grinning at him. He got a smile on his face and tossed some of the flour mixture in her.

She squealed and tossed a handful back at him. That was how it started, how the spotless kitchen became the mess that Steve and Natasha walked in to see.

"What happened?" Steve said looking around.

The teens paused, each dropping their ingredient/weapon of choice.

Izzy laughed sheepishly. "We're baking." She said with a grin.

Natasha smiled as she stared at the two. Even Steve's eyes were twinkling with amusement.

"Get cleaned up." Steve said. "We have a debriefing in twenty minutes."

"Got it Cap." Izzy said as the two adults left. "You have egg on you, so you go ahead. I'll clean up here."

Instead of replying, Pietro vanished as he sped around the room and when he reappeared the kitchen was spotless, even the ingredients that hadn't been thrown were put away neatly. He grabbed a cookie off the rack, gave her a flirty grin, and walked away eating his cookie.

"That works too." She said to herself and pulled the last tray out of the oven.

 **Lagos, Nigeria**

The mission was involving an old enemy. They had found information that Brock Rumlow, whom they had take to calling Crossbones, was planning on attacking a government building in Nigeria. The man had been at large since the DC incident when Hydra was exposed, now was their chance to capture him.

Since they needed a subtler approach, Steve, Sam, Nat, and Wanda we're going on this mission but Izzy and Pietro we're going to be backup just in case.

Izzy sat in the pilot's chair on the quinjet listening to the others talk on cons while Pietro fidgeted, pacing back and forth. She finally snapped and told him to sit down. He was making her nervous. He still bounced his legs up and down as he sat, anxious to do something. Izzy rolled her eyes and attempted to ignore him as she listened in.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked over coms. He was stationed inside a building across from the facility, while Sam was on a roof top and Wanda and Natasha were at a café across the street.

"Standard beat cops." Wanda replied. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?" Steve continued to question.

Wanda didn't hesitate. "Cameras." She said.

Steve continued. "Both cross streets are one-way." He said.

"So, compromised escape routes." Wanda replied.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out." Steve said. "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one?" Wanda said. "It's cute.

"It's also bullet proof, which means private security..." Natasha joined in. "Which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda asked and Pietro smirked.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha replied.

Izzy smiled faintly as she listened to them. It definitely became second nature, she remembered Clint and Natasha both drilling these things into her head since the attack at New York.

Sam's voice was next. "Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" He asked.

Natasha sounded amused. "Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" She replied lightly.

"Eyes on target, folks." Steve said. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."

"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem." Sam replied. "He kind of hates us."

"Sam, see that garbage truck?" Steve said suddenly. "Tag it."

Izzy pressed a few buttons on their end to see the video footage that Sam was picking up through Red Wing, the small surveillance drone that she had built for him about 5 months ago. He loved that thing.

"Give me x-ray." Sam said as the drone flew under the garbage truck that was currently pushing other cars out of the way as it went down the street. "That truck is loaded for max weight. The driver is armed."

Izzy tensed.

"It's a battering ram." Natasha said.

"Go now." Steve said.

"What?" Wanda said, not understanding.

The readout display in the jet showed Sam and Steve both on the move.

"What's happening?" Pietro asked.

"The police aren't the target." Izzy said as she pulled up other buildings listed on the street. "It's their center for infectious diseases."

Unfortunately, because the team didn't have cameras on their person, Izzy and Pietro were limited in what they could see of the battle, but it didn't sound too bad in the beginning. Until they encountered Rumlow and they escaped with some kind of biologic agent.

"They ditched their gear" Steve said. "It's a shellgame now. One of them has the payload."

Suddenly, there was an explosion.

"Steve?" Izzy said in a tense voice.

She heard another voice, faintly through coms. "There you are you son of a bitch." It was Rumlow. "I've been waiting for this!"

"Isabel, stay in the jet and figure out what they took." Natasha, who was second in command, ordered "Pietro come help us get that vial back. Go!"

Pietro barely waited for the ramp to lower before he raced out of the jet. Izzy turned back to her console and worked on hacking into the labs systems to learn what kind of horror they were looking to unleash on the world.

"Find anything?" Sam asked as they struck out with one goon.

"Yeah, it's not good." Izzy replied. "You guys need to get that vial now."

"Working on it." Pietro replied, barely discernible through the wind passing by as he ran.

 _I need to fix that._ She thought idly.

Sam struck out with his target. Natasha tracked the last two, but got into a standoff with them, one threatening to drop the vial. Pietro picked that moment to arrive, knocking in to one with the vial, catching it before it hit the ground and Natasha taking the other one out.

"Payload secure." Natasha said.

Izzy focused on the fight with Steve

"Who's your buyer?" Steve demanded.

"You know, he knew you." Rumlow said. "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

 _Shit._ Izzy thought.

"What did you say?" Steve said in shock.

"He remembered you." Rumlow repeated. "I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender."

Izzy looked at her system. "Steve, I'm reading a growing heat signature from Rumlow." She said.

The explosion was close, it caused a screech through the coms. However, what happened next was what would bring about the nightmare.

Wanda had been able to catch and initially contain the explosion with her abilities, but in attempting to clear the market place, Wanda launched the explosion up into the air, but it caught an apartment building, taking out a corner and four floors.

"Oh no…" Steve said. "Isabel, we need fire and rescue."


	53. Chapter 53

**Okay all! Next chapter! I just had a few minutes to spare but I am still very busy with school so I make no promises on the next update even though this one was sooner than I expected. Also I hope all the fluff I've written the last couple chapters has been enough because as you all know there is going to be a lot of somber stuff coming up. Hope you guys all like it.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Wanda and Pietro disappeared after they got back to the compound. Wanda was devastated, and nothing anyone said had been able to console her. Izzy checked in with the Stark Relief Foundation and she also checked with FRIDAY on how the MIT speech went. She was supposed to join Tony in the demonstration but with getting called to Nigeria, she couldn't go. All of the research projects getting funded had been a big hit.

Once she was done with her work, she went to Wanda's room, knocking on the door gently.

"Come in." Wanda called.

She found the twins sitting on Wanda's bed, Wanda's eyes were red and puffy from crying. "Hey." She said walking over and sitting on the desk chair.

"If you're here to make me feel better, it won't work." Wanda said.

"You've got to stop beating yourself up." Izzy said. "Things like this happen, we can't save everyone."

"I don't suppose you've ever taken out four floors of an apartment building with a bomb?" Wanda said.

Izzy shook her head. "No." Wanda looked away, but she continued. "However, I am responsible for the Hulk destroying an entire skyscraper in Seoul."

Wanda and Pietro looked at her.

"This was before we found the scepter in Sokovia." Izzy said. "We were supposed to be visiting Dr. Cho, but some Hydra agents were after her work, Steve and Natasha engaged. I had strict orders to stay back with Bruce, but I got edgy, I saw an opening, but I miscalculated. A Hydra agent shot at me and Bruce pushed me out of the way and the Other Guy stepped in. The only good thing that happened was I discovered the lullaby. There were 12 casualties and 68 wounded, and I can name every single one of them."

Neither Wanda or Pietro knew how to respond to that.

"We're going to make mistakes, Wanda." Izzy said softly. "We will lose people. It's an unfortunate side of this, but we have to keep moving forward because we will save more than we will lose."

Her phone chimed so she left them alone after that. Tony was trying to reach her, there was something wrong. He had sent her a document; opening it as she walked, she froze in the middle of the hallway.

 _Shit! Shit, shit, shit._ She cursed in her head over and over again as she called Tony. "Is this for real?" She demanded when he answered the phone. "How soon? Yeah I'll tell Cap."

Hanging up the phone, Izzy raced down down the hall to find Steve and tell him that Tony was on his way in. She found him in his office watching the news. He was beating himself up just as much as Wanda was.

"Dad is on his way in." She said softly as she came to stand beside his chair, looking straight at the tv. "He sounded like there was trouble."

Steve nodded a quiet sigh escaping his mouth.

Izzy put a hand on his shoulder and in a very rare display, he leaned his cheek against her fingers, taking comfort from her being there. Despite their rocky start, she adored Steve and looked up to him like a brother. They had gotten close in the last months since Sokovia and she had learned to spot the ways that he let the job wear him down.

She gently brushed her fingers through his hair in comfort for a second, her other fingers still held against his shoulder and cheek, before Steve lifted his head and turned the tv off.

"Let me know what Tony gets here okay?" He said.

"Sure." She said and left him alone.

She found herself in the kitchen watching the King of Wakanda deliver an address from the projection from her phone when Pietro walked in. "Hey." She said. "How's Wanda?"

Pietro shrugged. "Miserable. She blames herself." He states the obvious.

Izzy nodded with a sigh. "She'll be alright." She said. "I don't have to tell you how strong she is."

"What you said helped." Pietro said. "Thank you."

"Of course." Izzy looked up, realizing with surprise that he was now right in front of her, the island being the only separation between them.

"You look worried." Pietro said. "Is it that?" He motioned to her phone.

She closed it with a motion of her hand. "It's not something we can ignore at the moment." She said. "We need to know what's coming."

She already knew what was coming but she didn't have the heart to say it.

Before anything else could be said Izzy was notified that Tony had just arrived and unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Pietro went to gather Rhodey and Sam while Vision got Wanda and Steve. Izzy went to greet her father and Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross; she hugged Tony but to say her manner was icy towards Ross would be a gross understatement. She had not liked the man since she found out what he had done in hunting Bruce and it didn't help matters that he had always spoken to her with some level of disrespect.

They went to the biggest conference room, most of the team gathering around the table while Izzy chose to sit next to Tony rolled away from the table. She hadn't seen him for a bit, and she worried about the tired look in his eyes.

Ross stood at the head of the table. "Five years ago...I had a heart attack...and dropped right in the middle of my backswing." He said, miming the action of golfing.

 _Too bad it didn't stick._ Izzy thought with a slight frown.

As if knowing her thoughts, which he probably did, Tony pinched her side in warning to not say anything.

"Turned out it was the best round of my life..." Ross continued. "Because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass...I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective." He looked at the group sitting before him. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us... protected us, risked your lives...but while a great many people see you as heroes…there are some…who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

"And what word would you use Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.

"How about 'dangerous'?" Ross said.

Izzy immediately had a rebuff on the tip of her tongue, but Tony gave her a firm look to not say anything.

Ross seemed to half address the question to her because he saw Tony give her the warning look. "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals...who routinely ignore sovereign borders...and inflict their will wherever they choose...and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" He said. He stepped aside and they looked at the holo-screen that appeared behind him to show some very familiar footage.

"New York." They watched a leviathan crash into a building and then footage of the Hulk smashing into another building trying to get to the Chitauri. Rhodey looked away first.

"Washington, D.C." The helicarriers crashing into the river causing a wave of water to sweep civilians away. Sam looked down solemnly.

"Sokovia." The buildings collapsed as the city rose higher and higher. Pietro's jaw clenched.

"Lagos." The building that had gotten caught in the blast burning, the wails of the injured a horrible gut punch into the silence of the conference room. Wanda looked down and turned away.

"Okay." Steve said noting Wanda's reaction. "That's enough."

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power...and no supervision." Ross said. "That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." The secret service member with him, handed Ross a document, that Ross proceeded to place in front of Wanda. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries...it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead...they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel...only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

Izzy looked at Tony, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. She pushed away from him to roll her chair up beside Rhodey to look over his shoulder at the document.

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place." Steve said. "I feel we've done that."

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked Steve who didn't reply. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes...you can bet there'd be consequences."

Izzy opened her mouth but Rhodey gave her foot a warning kick under the table. She glared at Ross.

"Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works." Ross said, ignoring her gaze. "Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So, there are contingencies." Rhodey said.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna...to ratify the Accords." Ross said. Steve looked back at Tony, but Tony only briefly met his gaze before looking down again. "Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked.

Ross turned back to them. "Then you retire."


	54. Chapter 54

**Hi all. Here is another chapter. I underestimated how hard this movie would be for me to write into my story because of Peggy. Because of the nature of my work I have a sensitive spot for this so I'm kinda rolling this out in shorter chapters instead of longer ones cause I really can't handle more than that at the moment. Again, no promises on the frequency of updates.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor..." Rhodey said to Sam as they argued. "Which is one more than you have."

"So, let's say we agree to this thing." Sam argues back. "How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

This was how things had been going for a while, ever since Ross left. Tony was reclining back on one of the lounge chairs, a hand over his face and rolling his eyes in annoyance. Izzy was sitting next his legs in the same chair, Natasha on the chair next to her and Steve closer to Tony. Wanda was sitting beside Vision and Pietro was perched next to her. Rhodey and Sam were standing behind Steve's chair being the most vocal.

"117 countries want to sign this." Rhodey said. "117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it'."

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam asked him.

Izzy was about to speak to try and calm things down a bit, but Vision spoke in a soft voice.

"I have an equation." Vision said.

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam said sarcastically.

"In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man... the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision spoke unperturbed by Sam's hostility. "During the same period...the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked. It was the first time he had spoken, having been quietly looking through the document Ross left.

"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision replied. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." With those words he glanced at Sam with a pointed expression.

"Boom." Rhodey said and looked at Sam.

"Tony." Natasha said getting the billion to glance at her. "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

Izzy looked at Tony, looking for any sign of that was going on with him.

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve said.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony said with deep sarcasm. He sat up slowly and put a hand to the back of his head with a wince. Izzy recognized the signs that he had used the B.A.R.F. glasses. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort." He said as he went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and some ibuprofen. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" He asked in annoyance. "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He propped his phone up in the fruit bowl and tapped the screen bringing up a picture of a young man with a kind smile. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way." Tony said. "He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA...had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul...before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service." Izzy had a suspicion where this was going. "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia." Tony slammed the coffee pot down with more force than necessary. Everyone stared at him in silence as he continued. "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." He shook his head. "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less...we're no better than the bad guys."

Izzy had memory of being 9 years old and seeing Tony tell off a panel of senators because they wanted oversight over the Iron Man suit. This was a much different Tony standing in front of her now.

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions." Steve said calmly. "This document just shifts the blame."

Rhodey spoke next. "I'm sorry, Steve." He said. "That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve replied back.

"That's good. That's why I'm here." Tony said. "When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands...I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve said. "When you made the choice to announce your intent as Iron Man it took away Isabel's right to do the same because eyes were immediately on her after that to follow you." Izzy swallowed, not looking up at the eyes she knew were on her, looking for a reaction. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later." Tony said jaw clenched. "That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said solemnly. Pietro's hand went to her shoulder, his body tense.

"We would protect you." Vision said.

Izzy chewed her lower lip knowing that it may not be possible to keep that promise if things went from bad to worse. There was no real win in this scenario.

"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said startling everyone. Tony looked at her in shock. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..."

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked.

"I'm just reading the terrain." Natasha said cautiously. "We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up. I'm sorry." Tony said. "Did I just mishear you...or did you agree with me?"

Natasha looked at him. "I want to take it back now." She said with regret.

"No, you can't retract it." Tony said in his typical antagonistic way. "Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay. Case closed. I win."

Izzy glanced at her phone as she got a text, out of the corner of her eye she saw a message come through on Tony's phone still in the fruit bowl. It was from Sharon. _She's gone. In her sleep._ The world stopped moving for a minute and she felt her breathing hitch quietly.

Steve's phone buzzed a second later and she saw from his face that he got the same message. "I have to go." He said and quickly left the room.

Tony sighed but Izzy got up and followed him, telling Tony to check his phone as she left. As she turned the corner, she saw Tony grab his phone and look at the message, color draining from his face.

She found Steve in the stairwell, leaning against the railing at the bottom. He looked up at her as she stopped two steps above him, now at eye level. Without a word she wrapped her arms around him tightly and she felt him hug her back, forehead resting on her shoulder.

 **London...**

Arrangements were made for Peggy's funeral to be in London instead of the states in two days. The following day the Accords would be signed in Vienna, but for now the only thing that mattered was honoring an amazing woman.

Tony and Izzy sat in the same pew as Steve and Sam in the church. Whatever arguments had been going on didn't matter. Tony sat with one arm around Izzy's shoulders, un-shed tears in his eyes but he kept his gaze on the casket that was covered by the British flag. Izzy leaned against his side, a few tears escaping her eyes every now and then which she brushed away quickly. Glancing at Steve, she reached out her other hand that wasn't holding Tony's, to close hesitantly over Steve's hand. After a second, she felt his fingers close gently around hers.

The minister looked up. "And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words." He said.

As Sharon stepped up to the pulpit, Izzy noticed Sam nudge Steve, who had been looking down. She knew that Sharon had spied on Steve before the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Fury's orders, but Steve hadn't known who she was.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D..." Sharon said. "but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related." She glanced at Steve. "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage...in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either." Izzy looked up at Sharon. "She said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move...it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree...look them in the eye and say 'No, you move'."


	55. Chapter 55

**Hi all! Here is another chapter. A bit of a long one but lots happening. So I know Tony wasn't at the funeral but to be fair neither was Izzy, it just seemed like it fit to have a truce in order to honor Peggy. You'll see in this chapter that Izzy's starting to not exactly handle things well and she and Tony aren't going to see eye to eye as much. Also finally an introduction for a character I am really excited for. Hope you all enjoy.**

 **Note: I realized that between my tablet, phone, and computer the story was getting formatted weird and I have found a bunch of mistakes that have been made. Once I get caught up on all the movies, probably after Endgame comes out, I will start re-uploading each chapter to correct mistakes and fix plot holes that I created and forgot about.**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Tony had to leave for Vienna immediately after the funeral. Izzy was going to join him later, she wanted to stay a little bit longer for Sharon and for Steve. She hugged Tony before he got in the car and left; Izzy walked back in to the church, which was basically empty except for Steve and Natasha who had shown up unexpectedly.

Natasha pulled Izzy into a tight embrace which she gratefully returned.

Izzy looked at Steve. "Are you okay?" She asked touching his arm.

"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone." Steve said. "Then I found out she was alive. I was just lucky to have her."

Izzy squeezed his arm remembering the countless hours she had gotten to sit with Peggy and Steve together. The way Peggy would light up around him was always incredible.

"She had you back, too." Natasha said gently.

Steve looked up at Natasha. "Who else signed?" He asked somberly.

Natasha paused. "Tony, Rhodey, Vision." She said.

"Clint?" He asked.

"Says he's retired." Natasha replied with a faint smile.

"Wanda and Pietro?" He asked.

Natasha shrugged. "TBD." She said.

Steve glanced at Izzy. After their team discussion and in correlation with Steve's comment to Tony about taking away her right to choose from the beginning, arrangements were being made for a clause to be put in to the Accords to prohibit the signing of the contract by anyone who was not 18 years of age. The Twins were barely over that, Izzy was five months shy of seventeen, so it meant she was sidelined for over a year until she turned of age. However, because of her very public presence since the beginning of it all, Ross wanted her public support for the Accords. She hadn't said one way or another what her stance was on them yet…the world would find out tomorrow.

"I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords." Natasha said. "There's plenty of room on the jet." Steve didn't reply but she continued. "Just because it's the path of least resistance...doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."

"What are we giving up to do it?" Steve said. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."

"I know." Natasha said with a faint smile.

"Then what are you doing here?" He asked.

Natasha paused. "I didn't want you to be alone." She said honestly. Steve let her draw him in to a hug.

After saying goodbye to Sharon and a couple other people, Izzy went to Vienna with Natasha. The trip was in utter silence, Izzy just plugging her earbuds in to listen to music as Natasha read over some documents she had to review.

Once they got to Vienna, Izzy went to the hotel where Tony was. It was 3am so she didn't expect him to be awake, but she found him sitting up in the common area of the two-bedroom suite drinking a glass of scotch and watching the news with the tv on mute.

"What are you still doing up?" She asked softly, somehow afraid of the silence that she felt in the room.

"Waiting to make sure you got in safe." He said with a shrug as he downed the last of his drink.

Izzy walked over, dropping her bag off against the wall, noting the half empty bottle of scotch sitting on the small table. She sat down across from him feeling like a pressure was building in her chest the longer they stayed in silence, Sharon's words echoing in her brain. "Dad, I don't want to go before the press tomorrow." She finally said.

Tony looked up at her.

"I don't support the Accords as they are." She said. "I think this is a horrible mistake. They aren't ready."

"Izzy, we need to have some guidelines." Tony said leaning forward.

"But these aren't guidelines." She said indicating the packet that was sitting on the coffee table. "They're a noose, the only question is how long before they take away our footing? You know this."

"What do you want me to do?" Tony asked. "I'm trying to keep you safe and stop them from going after everyone else in the process."

Izzy felt her anger rise a bit. "How about talk to me and ask me what I want?" She asked. "What about asking me before you announce to the world that you're Iron Man? Or talk to me when you got palladium poisoning and went off the deep end? Or when you gave a mad man our home address? Or now when you have them make a change to the Accords directly affecting me?" Tony stared at her in silence. "You never once asked me what my opinion was on any of this and now my wigs are clipped either way when this thing gets signed and I don't get a choice, but I'm suppose to smile and be supportive."

"Izzy…" Tony said quietly.

"You've told me a lot of lies over the years for one reason or another." She said cutting him off. "But I've come to realize the biggest one you've ever told me was that we were a team."

She stood up and walked to her room, slamming the door despite him calling after her.

Izzy woke up before her alarm the next morning, hearing the door leading out of the hotel room close. She sat up, running her hands over her face, rubbing the tear tracks off her cheeks, her eyes stinging from crying most of the night. Walking out into the main area she noticed a note propped up on the table. Picking it up, she sat down to read it.

 _I told them to take you off the speaker list._

 _I'm sorry kiddo._

She covered her face with her hands and sat there for a long moment. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked into the bedroom to change her clothes and make herself presentable. She stared at her reflection in the floor length mirror, looking at the red blouse and black slacks. She slipped on a pair of flats and made sure her hair was securely pinned up in a braided crown before she left the hotel room. A car was waiting for her when she walked outside to take her to the UN building where the Accords were going to be signed. She stared out the window from the back seat, taking deep breaths to calm herself as they got closer to the destination.

Once at the building, Izzy was quickly escorted to the large room where the press conference was going to take place. Izzy looked around the room slowly, looking for Tony, but she didn't see him. She saw Natasha though.

"Hey Nat." Izzy said softly walking up.

"Zee, I was beginning to worry about you." Natasha turning to look at her. "Tony said you weren't going to be here today."

"I'm not speaking." Izzy replied. She glanced around again. "Have you seen my dad?"

"He should be right back." Natasha said glancing around.

Izzy nodded and laced her arm with Natasha's, just leaning her head against Natasha's shoulder as they stood together. Natasha leaned her cheek against the top of Izzy's head.

"It's gonna be okay kid." She said rubbing Izzy's arm.

Izzy just smiled faintly, not quite believing it, never lifting her head off Natasha's shoulder.

"Excuse me Ms. Romanoff?" Someone walked up.

"Yes?" Natasha said turning as Izzy lifted her head up, letting go of Natasha's arm.

The woman who had walked up smiled. "These need your signature." She said.

Natasha nodded and signed them, handing the folder back. "Thank you." She said.

"Thanks." The woman replied and walked off.

Izzy moved back to Natasha's side, still looking for Tony.

"I suppose neither of us is used to the spotlight." A voice said behind the two women.

They turned to see T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda walking over to them.

"Oh, well, it's not always so flattering." Natasha said lightly.

"You seem to be doing all right so far." T'Challa said. "Considering your last trip to Capitol Hill...I wouldn't think you'd be particularly comfortable in this company."

"Well, I'm not." Natasha said with a faint smile.

"And that alone makes me glad you are here, Ms Romanoff." He said.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Why? You don't approve of all this?" She asked as she placed a comforting arm around Izzy.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by T'Challa as he glanced at her. Izzy actually found herself squirming under his gaze which not many people could make her do.

"The Accords, yes." He said turning his attention back to Natasha. "The politics, not really. Two people in a room can get more done than a hundred."

Izzy tilted her head to the side evaluating the prince. Wakanda was an incredibly private country, not much was known about them, so the man was a mystery.

"Unless you need to move a piano." An older man joined them. "Ms. Romanoff. Miss. Stark."

"Baba." T'Challa said addressing the older man.

The man acknowledged T'Challa as 'son'.

"King T'Chaka." Natasha said. "Please, allow me to apologize for what happened in Nigeria."

"Thank you." T'Chaka said. "Thank you for agreeing to all of this. I'm sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today."

"Yes, so am I." Natasha said.

Izzy noticed Tony walked into the room and quietly excused herself as the others went to take their seats. Tony seemed surprised to see her walking towards him.

"What are you—"

"Can we talk please?" Izzy asked cutting him off. She glanced over her shoulder. "Alone?"

Tony moved her over to a far corner of the room where they couldn't be easily heard. "Isabel—"

"Me first." She said quickly. "I am so sorry about what I said last night. My stance on the Accords doesn't change, I won't openly support them, but I had no right to say what I did to you. You've done a better job than anyone could have in your position and you've always acted to do what's best for me. I'm sorry."

Tony pulled her into a tight embrace, letting her bury her eyes into his shoulder. "I deserved every bit of what you said." He murmured against her hair. "I've made a lot of decisions without talking to you. I've messed up a lot, and I don't want you to feel like you don't have a voice or a choice. I love you so much sweetheart and I am sorry I did the very thing as a parent that I swore I would never do. We are a team and I swear we will fix this, somehow."

She sniffed quietly and nodded against his shoulder. They separated as the press conference began. Izzy noticed Natasha smile at them from her seat.

Izzy focused up on T'Chaka as he took the podium to speak first, T'Challa standing off to the side, watching.

"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon...we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy." T'Chaka said. Izzy squeezed Tony's hand at the mention of Ultron. "Those men and women killed in Nigeria...were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers for supporting this initiative." Izzy looked away, but as she did, she noticed T'Challa staring out the window with a furrowed brow. He saw something. "Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace."

"Everybody get down!" T'Challa shouted suddenly, running towards his father.

Tony grabbed Izzy, pulling her back, shielding her with his own body as the windows blew in from an explosion outside the building. Being at the back of the room, they weren't hurt but still knocked into the wall, their ears ringing, coughing on the smoke that quickly filled the room.

Izzy met Tony's eyes, though she was coughing, she nodded that she was okay. She scanned the room looking for Natasha, sighing internally when she spotted her unharmed. However, her eyes focused on T'Challa, at his father's side on the floor. She didn't have to get closer to know that T'Chaka was dead.

There was a lot of chaos for the first couple hours. A bomb had been in a news van…the media was reporting that there was surveillance video match the description of James Buchanan Barnes. When Sharon showed up, Izzy's heart dropped, if she was here it meant that Steve knew that they believed it was Bucky.

Tony had to go, so Izzy stayed with Natasha as they moved outside of the building. Sharon was on the phone out front, but as soon as the blonde spotted Izzy she ran over and wrapped her up in a tight hug which Izzy returned. She watched Sharon walk off, continuing her CIA work.

Natasha noticed T'Challa sitting on a bench nearby and they moved over to him. Natasha sat down on the bench next to his, but Izzy remained standing.

"I'm very sorry." Natasha offered.

"So am I." Izzy said quietly.

T'Challa glanced at them. "In my culture..." He said. "Death is not the end. It's more of a stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands...and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt...where you can run forever."

"That sounds very peaceful." Izzy said.

"My father thought so." He said. He paused for a second as he put on his father's royal signet ring and stood up. "I am not my father."

"T'Challa..." Natasha said. "Task Force will decide who brings in Barnes."

"Don't bother, Ms. Romanoff." T'Challa said facing them. "I'll kill him myself."

Izzy took a step back from him as he walked past them. Her gaze followed him as he walked away. Though it had been during a moment of chaos, she saw the way he had moved when running to protect his father, T'Challa moved with a speed that normal humans didn't possess…and the way he had jumped into the air…something about him wasn't adding up.

Natasha's phone rang. "Yeah?" She said. Her expression changed as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. "Uh, yeah, thanks. I got lucky. I know how much Barnes means to you. I really do." It was Steve. Izzy moved closer to listen to the call as well. She could hear the background noise reflecting the ones going on around them right now. "Stay home. You'll only make this worse. For all of us. Please."

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?" Steve asked.

"No." Natasha said. "Someone will. If you interfere. That's how it works now."

Izzy scanned the area, looking for the familiar face.

"If he's this far gone, Nat, I should be the one to bring him in." Steve said.

"Why?" Natasha said.

"Because I'm the one least likely to die trying." Steve said and hung up the phone.

"Shit." Natasha murmured.

Just as he hung up though, Izzy spotted a tall figure in a blue baseball cap standing a distance away. Izzy found a moment to slip away from Natasha, which wasn't easy and went with Sharon to meet Steve and Sam.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked her in concern.

"Yeah." Izzy said. "I'm fine."

"Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public." Sharon said. "Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of it is noise. Except for this." They had found a possible link to a man in Bucharest that might be Bucky. "My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now...so that's all the head start you're gonna get."

"Thank you." Steve said. "You're gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight."

Sharon left, Izzy looked at Steve. "I can't get involved directly." She said regretfully.

"I wouldn't ask you to do that." Steve said.

"I said not directly." Izzy smiled pressing two earpieces into his hand. "Be careful, both of you."

When he called asking where she was, Izzy told Tony that she had gone back to the hotel room since she wasn't allowed to participate so she could change into more comfortable clothes. Which she had, now in jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers, but she was also setting up to my Steve's eyes while he and Sam went to Bucharest and cause as many delays as she could for special ops without drawing attention.

Steve was at the apartment building that they think Bucky was staying at.

Izzy monitored streets and radio communications. "Heads up Cap." She said softly. "German special forces coming in from the south."

"Understood." Steve said.

There was a moment of silence before she heard Steve speak to someone outside of coms. "Do you know me?" He asked.

"You're Steve." Was that Bucky? "I read about you in a museum."

"They've set the perimeter." Izzy said.

"I know you're nervous, and you have plenty of reason to be." Steve said to Bucky. "But you're lying."

Bucky sounded sad when he spoke. "I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."

"They're entering the building." Sam said.

"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now." Steve said. "And they're not planning on taking you alive."

"That's smart." Bucky said. "Good strategy."

"They're on the roof. I'm compromised." Sam said.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck." Steve said.

Bucky sounded resigned. "It always ends in a fight." He said.

"Five seconds." Izzy said watching cameras.

"You pulled me from the river." Steve said desperately, referring to DC. "Why?"

"I don't know." Bucky replied unconvincingly.

"Three seconds." Izzy said tensing.

"Yes, you do." Steve replied.

The command came over the radio chatter. "Breach! Breach! Breach!" She listened in tense silence as radio chatter came in. "Suspect has broken containment! ...he's headed down the east stairwell!

Finally, they broke outside, and she had eyes on the roof. As Bucky ran, he was attacked. Izzy stared in shock at the figure dressed in what looked like a black cat suit. "Who the fuck is that?"


	56. Chapter 56

**Hi guys, here is another chapter. Everything is unraveling! Also the scene in here with T'Challa and Izzy is a reimagining of a deleted scene from Civil War that originally had Natasha talking with T'Challa instead. Hope you all like it and I still make no promises on when updates will come. Thank you all for your patience.**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Izzy watched the fight between Bucky and the new comer with interest. The way that this guy moved was fluid and strong, the only one whom she had seen close to being able to match him was Steve, but this guy definitely operated with more precision. She had a good guess who they were dealing with.

"Sam, southwest rooftop." Steve said over the coms.

"Who the hell's the other guy?" Sam asked.

"About to find out." Steve said and took a running jump off the balcony onto the rooftop that Bucky was on.

A helicopter came in and was firing down on Bucky and the new guy. Izzy narrowed her eyes as she watched the bullets bounce right off his suit. With the caliber of the gun, only one substance she knew of could deflect it like that.

"Sam." Steve said as he raised his shield against the bullets too, confirming Izzy's theory.

"Got him." Sam said and kicked the tail of the chopper causing it to spin away.

Bucky took off running with the new guy in pursuit and Steve following as well. There were several points where Izzy lost sight of them, but she could hear the police sirens and the officers yelling _Stand down!_ over and over again.

The chase ended in a crash with the three being surrounded by police, the chopper overhead and War Machine landing, weapons trained on them. Both Steve and Sam quickly pulled out their earpieces, crushing them so they couldn't trace anything back to Izzy, but she could still listen in from Rhodey's suit.

"Stand down, now." Rhodey said. He looked at Steve who had his hands up. "Congratulations, Cap. You're a criminal."

Izzy clenched her hands tightly, holding them to her mouth as she watched.

The new comer raised his hands and removed his helmet revealing T'Challa.

"Your Highness." Rhodey acknowledged, shaking off his surprise.

Izzy would have normally been excited over her correct assumption, but she felt sick as she watched Steve, Bucky, and Sam be placed in handcuffs. Quickly putting her Starkphone in her pocket she raced out of the hotel to get back to Tony before they brought Steve and the others in.

The minute Tony saw her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in to an office off to the side and shut the door. With a quick press on his watch he cut out audio to the room. "Tell me that you showing up here now doesn't mean that you were helping Rogers with this?" He said.

Izzy stared back at him, unable to lie to him but knowing she had overstepped in a big way with the Accords.

Tony took the meaning from her silence and rubbed a hand over his face. "How much?" He asked in a voice she had never heard before, at least not directed at her.

"Cameras only." She said quietly. "I didn't interfere."

It wasn't technically against the Accords, but it was dancing on the line.

He took a deep breath. "We are not going to say anything about this." He wasn't asking. "They aren't going to lock up a sixteen-year-old but if you actually want to help fix any of this you cannot do anything like that again. Do you understand?"

"I understand." She said softly. "But we need to talk about Barnes. There is something—"

Tony's phone rang. It was Ross.

Izzy followed him out of the room. As she waited to get his attention, she noticed that they were bringing in Steve and the others. Natasha went to meet them.

"No." Tony was saying as Natasha, Steve, and Sam walked in. "Romania was not Accords-sanctioned. Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup."

"Try not to break anything while we fix this." Natasha instructed.

Izzy met Steve's gaze for a second. He looked concerned for her. She shook her head, they weren't going to punish her. Some of the tension in his frame eased slightly.

"Consequences?" Tony said looking at Steve. "You bet there'll be consequences. Obviously, you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

Izzy cringed slightly as he hung up.

"Consequences?" Steve asked.

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted." Tony said. "Had to give him something."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" He asked.

"Technically, it's the government's property." Natasha replied as they moved away. "Wings, too."

"That's cold." Sam said.

Tony half turned his head as he walked away and replied. "Warmer than jail."

Izzy followed after them but looked back at Steve, eyes pleading with him to get her meaning. _I'm trying._

Steve and Sam were thankfully not locked in cells, but they were being kept away from the main command center and Steve was being prevented from knowing anything about Bucky. However, he could see him on a monitor being held in a cell.

Izzy spoke with Tony at great length, there were work arounds in the way the Accords were written, she knew how to exploit them. She just had to get Tony to agree to help her. She could see it, he didn't want to do this anymore than she did, he may believe in the Accords, but Steve and Sam were still their friends.

Tony left temporarily to get something. He wouldn't tell her what. While she had a minute, she walked around looking for one individual in particular.

She found T'Challa sitting in an office, he had his cell phone out. "Well, I can honestly say I didn't expect you to actually go after him yourself." Izzy said walking in, drawing his attention up to her. She sat on the arm of a chair across from him. "Though thinking back to how you moved when the bomb went off, I'm not surprised."

T'Challa didn't respond but seemed curious.

"I've been around enough enhanced to recognize it when I see it." She said with a shrug. "Though I'm curious how you got your abilities. Or is it just your suit? Vibranium weave, right?"

T'Challa smiled faintly. "The world talks about your intellect, Miss. Stark, I'm glad to see the rumors were not exaggerated." He said. "But please, just ask what you really came here for."

Izzy smiled. "It's not so much a question as an observation of hypocrisy." She replied.

He raised his head a little higher, inviting her to continue.

"Your suit puts you directly under the jurisdiction of the Accords." She said. "Though I didn't really see you running to sign it yourself."

T'Challa didn't respond right away as Agent Everette Ross (no relation to Secretary Ross) came in to inform T'Challa that they approved his extradition request.

Izzy shook her head and stood up as Agent Ross left. "You said that two people in a room can get more done than a hundred." She said. "I understand you're hurting, your Highness, and I am sorry for your loss. For your mother and sister's loss as well. But don't call revenge justice. At least understand the bigger picture first."

She moved past him towards the door.

"I am curious as to how you got your intel." T'Challa said causing her to pause. "Seeing as you are not legally allowed to operate as an Avenger anymore."

Izzy turned back, meeting his gaze. "Tell me about your suit and I just might tell you." She replied sweetly and moved out of the room.

Tony was back and she was selected to be mediator for the conversation between him and Steve. They found Steve in the glass conference room watching the monitors that showed Bucky.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Tony asked drawing Steve's attention. "I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely." He set a case with two pens in it on the table. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

Izzy looked at the pens curiously as she sat down. She didn't even know he had those.

"Some would say it brought our country closer to war." Steve said as he took a seat.

"See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here." Tony said sitting across from Steve. "I'm trying to... What do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?"

Steve smiled faintly. "Is Pepper here? I didn't see her." He asked looking around.

Izzy's stomach knotted up and she looked down at the table, tracing an invisible pattern with her fingers.

"We're kinda..." Tony said. "Well, not kinda..."

"Pregnant?" Steve asked.

"No." Tony said with a faint laugh. "Definitely not. That one is enough." He pointed at Izzy who smiled. "We're taking a break. It's nobody's fault."

 _Yes, it is._ Izzy thought. _It's ours._

"I'm so sorry, Tony." Steve said genuinely. "I didn't know."

"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits." Tony said. Izzy bit her lip, the rest of the team didn't know much about the Mandarin, only Clint, and it wasn't much. "Then, we had to mop up HYDRA...and then Ultron. My fault." He shrugged. Izzy frowned. "And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference." Izzy looked at him as Steve did. Tony stood up. "In her defense, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work."

"I'm glad Howard got married." Steve said. "I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other?" Tony said, sarcasm seeping in. "He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you."

Izzy met his gaze, a reminder to stay calm.

Steve looked sad. "I don't mean to make things difficult." He said.

"I know, because you're a very polite person." Tony said trying to reign it in.

"If I see a situation pointed south..." Steve said. "I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't." Tony said simply.

Steve smiled briefly. No, I don't." He agreed quietly. "Sometimes..."

"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth." Tony said. Steve looked up at him. "But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-centre...instead of a Wakandan prison.

Steve picked up one of the pens and stood up. "I'm not saying it's impossible..." He said quietly after a second causing both Starks to look up at him. "but there would have to be safeguards."

"Sure." Tony said jumping on the chance to fix it. "Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and the Twins reinstated..."

Steve frowned. "The Twins? What about them?" He asked.

Izzy looked up at Tony in confusion. What happened to Wanda and Pietro?

"They're fine." Tony said. "They're confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping them company."

Izzy's heart sank. There went their chances to fix it.

"Oh, God, Tony." Steve said. "Every time I think you see things the right way..."

"It's 100 acres with a lap pool." Tony said. "It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection?" Steve said. "Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony."

Tony's jaw clenched. "They are not US citizens." He said.

"Oh, come on, Tony." Steve said.

"And they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction." Tony said.

The words sounded cold, but Izzy knew they were right. Whether he would ever admit it, Tony was protective of the Twins, ever since he found out about SI weapons being the reason their parents died. He didn't want them confined either but better at the compound then locked up where Ross wanted them.

"They're kids!" Steve said.

"Give me a break!" Tony said causing Steve to pause. "I'm doing what has to be done. To stave off something worse."

"You keep telling yourself that." Steve said. He set the pen back in its case. "Hate to break up the set."

Izzy watched him walk out and then looked at Tony. "Why didn't you tell me about Wanda and Pietro?" She asked.

Tony didn't reply.

Izzy sighed and stood up, leaving Tony alone in the conference room. The minute she was out of the room she pulled out her phone to securely call the Twins.

"Did you know?" Was Pietro's immediate question without greeting. He sounded angry, with every reason to be.

"I just found out." Izzy said running a hand through her hair. "Are you and Wanda okay?"

"We're prisoners." Pietro said flatly.

"I'm working on it." Izzy walked in to an empty office and shut the door.

It was going to take more than sorry to fix things, but Izzy had a few ideas. However, she had to find a way to get the Twins out of confinement.

Sharon was in the conference room with Steve and Sam. Izzy knew she was letting them listen to the psychological evaluation that was being done on Bucky at that moment. She joined them in the conference room. Izzy walked over to Steve, who was looking at the photo that the task force released.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?" Steve asked.

"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can." Sharon said.

Steve frowned. "Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding." He said. "Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. And get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"You're saying someone framed him to find him?" Sharon asked in disbelief.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing." Sam said.

"We didn't bomb the UN." Steve said. "That turns a lot of heads."

Izzy frowned and stared down at the picture in thought.

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him." Sharon said.

Izzy's head shot up and she stared at the back of the psychologist that was alone with Bucky right now. "It guarantees that we would." She said softly in horror. She met Steve's eyes before she raced out the door just as the lights went out.

"Get me eyes on Barnes!" Agent Ross shouted.

Izzy and Tony activated the display in their sunglasses. "FRIDAY get me a source on that power outage." Tony said.

Izzy looked back to see Steve and Sam race out of the room. Sharon must have told them where Bucky was. If she was right in her assumption, and she usually was, they wouldn't be dealing with Bucky when they got to sub-level five.

"Evac all civilians." Agent Ross was ordering as Izzy, Tony, and Natasha went towards the doors. "Get me a perimeter around the building, and gunships in the air."

"Please tell me you brought a suit." Natasha said to Tony.

"Sure did." He replied. "It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button. I'm an active-duty non-combatant."

Natasha looked at Izzy. "Mine is at the compound." Izzy said bitterly.

"Follow me." Sharon instructed as she ran past them.

Barnes was back in Winter Soldier Mode and was easily taking out any agent that encountered him. Whether Tony or anyone else liked it, they needed all hands on deck which meant Izzy was joining the fight too.

Izzy crouched down behind a stone column, activating the gauntlet in her watch, keeping an eye on Bucky.

"We're in position." Natasha said over coms to Tony.

Tony faced him first while the girls came around behind Bucky. Tony was able to get the gun out of Bucky's hand, but he couldn't match him in hand to hand combat and Bucky threw him back.

Natasha, Sharon, and Izzy attacked him at once, making sure to fill in gaps that the others left in order to keep Bucky off balance. Though hand to hand wasn't her specialty, Izzy had two master assassins that had insisted on her learning and maintaining the skills.

Bucky caught Sharon's leg as she kicked him and he flipped her over, onto a table. Izzy landed a kick to hit chest but before Natasha could attack, Bucky grabbed Izzy's arm, yanking her in front of him causing Natasha to pull back so she wouldn't hit Izzy. Throwing Izzy to the side as if she weighed nothing, Bucky grabbed Natasha and slammed her on another table, metal hand closing on her throat.

"You could at least recognize me." Natasha said, voice strained as he tried to crush her windpipe.

Izzy watched in surprise as T'Challa showed up, landing a kick that knocked Bucky away, making him release Natasha. T'Challa and Bucky were pretty evenly matched when Bucky was under mind control. The fight had gone up to the second floor but T'Challa knocked Bucky over the railing and he fell back to the first floor. Unfortunately, Izzy was too close and instead of continuing the fight, the Winter Soldier decided to take a hostage as insurance. She gasped in a quick breath of air as his arm closed around her throat and he pulled her away with him before T'Challa could jump down to the bottom level.

There was a helicopter on the roof, that was where they ended up. Izzy was shoved forcefully into the chopper but as Bucky was prepping it for takeoff, the rooftop door opened to reveal Steve. Before she could call out to him, Bucky's hand closed on her throat, immediately cutting off her air. He shoved her against the door.

Steve's eyes widened in horror as he saw Izzy and ran forward as Bucky started pilot the helicopter into the air. He jumped and grabbed the chopper, somehow managing to bring it back down. At the last second, Bucky turned the chopper back at Steve, who dove out of the way, miraculously avoiding the blades that were breaking off.

As Steve stood up, Bucky broke his hand through the windshield and grabbed Steve by the neck. Thinking quickly, Izzy grabbed the cord the connected the radio to the control panel and wrapped it around Bucky's neck, pulling back with all her strength. The chopper shifted dangerously under them and slid over the edge.

"Oh god." Izzy said as the water below rushed up towards them. Everything went black.


	57. Chapter 57

**Okay here is another chapter. I have flipped back and forth on where I am going to put Izzy but I think I know how I am going to play this now. I hope you guys like it as much as I enjoy writing it.**

 **Note: the first few lines in here are a callback. Cookies to whoever figures out what I'm talking about.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 _She couldn't breathe. The air was thick as the noxious gas filled the room on the boat. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes burned, her four-year-old mind just wanting to cry and scream but opening her mouth only made it worse._

 _Suddenly, the cannister was kicked away from her and she was lifted into the air. A mask that was too big was placed over her mouth and nose but it filtered out the air so she could at least breathe better, though her eyes still burned. She looked up, barely distinguishing pale blue eyes looking back at her as she was carried out of the room on the boat. She shivered as the metal arm held her tightly…_

Izzy gasped and sat up quickly, panicking when she didn't recognize the grey room that she was in. She could hear helicopters overhead and smell old motor oil and grease. _They fell!_

"Hey, you're okay." Gently hands were touching her arms and the familiar voice penetrated her foggy brain. "Zee, listen to my voice, you're okay."

She looked up to meet familiar warm blue eyes, with just a hint of green in them. "Steve?" She gasped and winced, putting a hand to her head recognizing the concussion.

"Take it slow." Steve said as she tried to move her legs to sit up more.

"Where are we?" She asked squinting as she looked around slowly.

Steve helped her into a better position. "An abandoned garage." He said. "We're still in Vienna."

Izzy took a second, letting her brain catch up. "How long have I been out?" She asked.

"About half an hour." Steve said.

Izzy quickly tapped on her watch. "Not good." She muttered and brought up a projection of the news feeds going on.

 _James Barnes the suspect in the UN Vienna bombing..._

 _...escaped custody today._

 _...also missing Avenger Captain Steve Rogers..._ _and Sam Wilson._

 _Isabel Stark missing after the escape of James Barnes._

Steve frowned as he watched the news feed. "We've got to get you back to Tony, he's probably worried sick." He said quietly.

Izzy was going to respond but felt a sharp pain lance up her neck. She closed her eyes and placed a hand to the back of her neck, tilting her head back to stop it. She felt Steve stiffen and he inhaled sharply through his nose. She opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion. He was staring at her neck though with a horrified look in his eyes.

Using the projector on her watch to get a look at her neck, she saw the bruises in the perfect shape of fingers on her throat.

She sighed. "It's okay Steve." She said gently. "He wasn't himself."

Steve shook his head. "The Bucky I know would never have…"

"I know." She said and offered a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I promise I'm fine."

The moment was broken by the sound of a chopper flying overhead. It faded quickly so they weren't made…yet.

"Hey Cap!" Sam, who was standing on the other side of the garage called out.

Steve helped her up and they both went over to Sam. As they got closer, Sam put a brotherly arm around her, hugging her close. She returned the hug with a half-smile before turning to see what Sam had been guarding. Izzy looked at Bucky, who was slumped over in an awkward sitting position, his arm trapped in a hydraulic press. He was waking up.

"Steve." Bucky spoke in a soft voice, his throat sounding dry.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked.

Bucky seemed disorientated, but his eyes were clear, warmer than the cold expression they had seen from him at the UN building. "Your mom's name was Sarah." He said quietly. He smiled faintly after a second. "You used to put newspapers in your shoes."

Steve smiled faintly. "You can't read the in a museum." He said knowing that it was Bucky.

Sam wasn't amused. "And just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" He said in disbelief.

"What did I do?" Bucky asked, voice tense, bracing himself.

"Enough." Steve said glancing at Izzy.

Bucky's sharp eyes zeroed in on her neck and he looked pained. "Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words." He said

"Who was he?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." Bucky said. He sounded like he was telling the truth.

Steve frowned slightly. "People are dead. The bombing, the setup...the doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'." Steve said firmly.

"He wanted to know about Siberia." Bucky said, thinking hard. "Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Why would he need to know that?" She asked.

Bucky looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

They released Bucky from the press, Izzy was sitting beside him looking over his arm to fix any damage under Steve's watchful eye as Bucky told them about the soldiers. The three listened in somber silence as Bucky told them about the enhanced Winter Soldiers; somehow, HYDRA had recreated the serum used to create Steve, though he didn't say exactly how.

"Who were they?" Steve asked.

"Their most elite death squad." Bucky said. "More kills than anyone in HYDRA history, and that was before the serum."

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked.

"Worse." Bucky replied.

Steve looked up. "The doctor, could he control them?" He asked.

"Enough." Bucky said looking away.

 _Meaning, no._ Izzy thought.

"Said he wanted to see an empire fall." Steve said looking at Sam and Izzy. "With these guys, he could do it."

"They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight...infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize." Bucky said. "They can take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming."

Sam moved over to Steve as Izzy finished her repairs to Bucky's arm. "This would have been a lot easier a week ago." Sam said quietly, Izzy had to strain to hear them.

"If we call Tony..." Steve said.

"No, he won't believe us." Sam said.

Steve paused. "Even if he did..."

"Even if the Accords would let him help do you really think he will once he gets a look at her neck?" Sam asked glancing back at Izzy.

Izzy saw Bucky's shoulder's slump. She put a hand on his shoulder gently, trying to convey she wasn't upset before she stood up to go over to Steve and Sam.

"We're on our own." Steve said quietly.

"Maybe not." Sam said. Steve and Izzy looked at him. I know a guy." 

Izzy walked in to the UN building cautiously. There was so much chaos, most didn't even pay attention to her as she walked through the lobby, which would be terrifying if she was someone who wanted to do any damage. She took the elevator to the command floor where she knew she would find Tony.

 _We won't be able to avoid a fight._ Steve's voice echoed in her head.

As she walked down the hall, she saw Tony and Natasha talking in one of the offices, they hadn't noticed her yet. She paused in the doorway leading into the main room, just watching Tony for a moment.

 _You can't fight Tony, any more than I could fight Bucky._

"Oh my god!" Izzy looked up, startled by Sharon's sudden shout which drew Tony and Natasha's attention as well. Sharon raced over and pulled her into a crushing hug. Izzy winced but returned the embrace.

"I'm okay." Izzy said watching Tony race out of the room with Natasha right behind him.

Sharon stepped back as Tony reached them. All three paused as they took in the sight of her bruises, the cut that she had that went into her hairline, tears in her jeans, scraped up hands.

"I'm okay." Izzy said in a small voice, the weight of their concerns hitting her.

Tony could only pull her into a bone crushing hug. He didn't say anything, but his relief and pain poured out in waves. She just tightened her hold, burying against his chest. "I'm okay…"


	58. Chapter 58

**Next chapter! I chose the words at the beginning and end of this chapter carefully to reflect where Izzy's head was at as her and Tony's relationship kind of breaks down. Not gonna lie, it is hard to write Izzy and Tony at odds with one another. I'm pretty happy with this chapter for the most part though. Hope you guys like it too! Next chapter is the battle. I will probably cover it all in one chapter so it may take awhile for me to write and get out. It's shaping up to be the longest one to date.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 _He'll understand, I know he will._

Izzy sat in the office with Tony, Sharon, and Natasha, door closed. It was harder to get them to listen, they asked one question after another without giving her a chance to explain what she had actually found out. She had to edit what she told them, she had to make it seem like it was just Steve and Sam that were now protecting Bucky, they couldn't know that there was a bigger plan at play here.

"Steve sent you back here?" Natasha said.

"He didn't want Ross to think that I helped Barnes escape." Izzy said. "For the record I didn't. Whatever that doctor did, he knew how to trigger Barnes' Winter Soldier protocols."

"We'll look in to it." Tony said after a minute. "We have a bigger concern with Steve and Sam being fugitives now. They are going to want them brought in."

Izzy frowned. "There is more though—"

"I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Ross suddenly walked in, cutting her off.

"We will." Tony responded. "GSG 9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it."

Izzy looked at him. Maybe there was hope that he would listen. If they could get to Steve first then they could solve the Winter Soldier issue and clear Steve, Sam, and maybe Bucky.

"You don't get it, Stark." Ross said. "It's not yours to handle. It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this."

"Who exactly are you going to bring in?" Izzy asked. "Half of your _Fantastic Four_ are too young to sign the Accords and the others haven't signed. Who else do you have to throw against Avengers?"

"And what happens when the shooting starts?" Natasha asked. "What, do you kill Steve Rogers?"

"If we're provoked." Ross said. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now." He looked at Izzy, who met his gaze fearlessly. "Feel free to check my math."

"All due respect, you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets, Ross." Tony said. "You gotta let us bring them in."

"How would that end any differently than last time?" Ross asked.

"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt." Tony said. "72 hours, guaranteed."

"36 hours." Ross said and turned to walk away. "Barnes. Rogers. Wilson."

Izzy closed her eyes and put a hand to her temple. Natasha smoothed a hand over Izzy's hair.

"Thank you, sir." Tony said. He put his hand to his chest causing Izzy to look at him in concern. "My left arm is numb. Is that normal?"

Izzy reached forward and took his hand in hers. His hand closed around hers tightly, desperately.

"You all right?" Natasha asked standing beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Always." Tony responded, loosening his grip on Izzy's hand. "36 hours. Jeez."

Izzy looked at them.

"We're seriously understaffed." Natasha said.

"Oh, yeah." Tony said. "It'd be great if we had a Hulk right about now." He looked at Natasha. "Any shot?"

Natasha smiled faintly. "You really think he'd be on our side?" Natasha asked.

Izzy looked down sadly as Tony shook his head. "No." He said. He looked at Izzy. "Where do Johnny and Sue fall with the Accords?"

"Both against." Izzy said. "Richards and Grimm are on the fence. I don't think we'll have to worry about them for a while." She thought. "There might be one…"

Tony seemed to catch what she was thinking about.

"I have an idea." Natasha said.

"Me, too. Where's yours?" Tony asked.

"Downstairs." Natasha said slowly. She raised an eyebrow. "Where's yours?"

Tony smiled. His target was in Queens, someone they had been keeping tabs on for awhile. Tony went ahead of Izzy on the Stark helicopter. Izzy had a different way to travel. Much to Ross' anger, Izzy was granted temporary permission to join them in the attempt to bring Steve and the others in, so she called her suit from New York.

On her way to the roof, she was texting on her phone as she crossed paths once again with T'Challa.

"Miss. Stark." He said.

"Your Highness." She acknowledged looking up from her phone.

T'Challa took one look at her face and his eyes narrowed. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said with a forced smile, tone light. "Just a little concussion is all. That's what happens when you fall from a building in a helicopter."

That response didn't seem to sit well with him. She found herself smiling.

"Your sister is about my age, isn't she?" Izzy asked taking a guess. Not much was known about the princess from Wakanda.

T'Challa let his surprise show. "How did…"

Izzy laughed slightly though it made her ribs hurt. "Because you're looking at me right now like Clint does whenever I get a scratch. Like a concerned big brother." She shook her head. "I have work to do. But thank you for your concern."

Izzy was going to leave it to Natasha to convince T'Challa to join them, she had other things she needed to deal with.

Instead of going with the suit that was at the compound, Izzy watched as the new model that she had finished at the Tower landed in front of her. She made sure that any GPS tracking had been disabled in the suit before she went in her chosen direction.

It took her little time to reach the quiet farm in Iowa. She kept herself in stealth mode the entire trip and landed silently in the yard closer to the barn. She saw Clint come out of the house, standing on the porch looking at her. She inclined her head indicating he should follow her as she walked into the barn.

"You have your armor…" Clint observed as he came into the barn. "Should I take that as a good sign?"

She stepped out of her armor as Clint walked closer. Without surprise, she watched his ever-sharp eyes steel over in that same expression she mentioned to T'Challa as he looked at her marred skin and he moved forward quickly, fingers tilting her chin up so he could clearly see the marks in the light.

"Who did this to you?" He demanded.

"Clint, I'm fine." She said in frustration, removing his hand so she could look at him. "That's not why I'm here. I need your help, Cap needs your help."

Clint seemed to struggle to control his anger, seeing red as he looked at her. But after a few seconds, he calmed down enough to respond in an even tone. "How bad is it?"

Izzy shook her head. "It's bad Clint, really bad." She proceeded to tell him everything that had happened since Vienna. Bucky, T'Challa, the twins being confined to the compound (Clint clenched his fists as he heard that), and Ross' orders to have them back in 36 hours. They had already burned 4 hours of that time. However, she went on to tell him why she was there.

Clint stared at her in surprise. "Why come to me. Why not tell Tony all of this?" He asked.

"Because he's not listening to me." She said with a shake of her head. "If we can get to Cap first before Ross sends in Special Ops then maybe we can get dad to listen, but right now he's too focused on the Accords."

Clint sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Laura is not going to like this." He said.

"I'm sorry Clint." She said. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't an emergency…but I can't get the twins myself."

He sighed and looked up at her. "Tell me the plan."

Izzy landed on the helipad of the Tower and walked inside, her suit releasing her. She had 30 minutes before Tony would be back and she had one other thing that she needed to do. She reached for the burner phone in her pocket.

"Zee, there you are!"

Izzy looked up in surprise, releasing the phone, keeping it in her pocket. "Johnny, Sue…" She said seeing her two best friends standing, waiting for her.

"Shit!" Johnny said as Sue covered her mouth. "What happened."

"Nothing, you should see the other guy." She played it off lightly. "What are you guys doing here?"

Sue furrowed her brow. "We were worried about you." She said walking forward.

"Ross was trying to arrange to have us sanctioned by the Accords." Johnny said. "He said something about going after Captain America."

"Of course, he is." Izzy said shaking her head. "What did you guys say?"

"We told him no, that we didn't want to participate." Sue said. "Reed and Ben said the same. Zee, what is going on?"

Izzy sighed. "Look, it is a really long story." She said. "I don't have time to go over it because I need to get back to Europe. Just stick to what you said, trust me you don't want to get involved in all of this."

"You know we have your back right?" Johnny asked.

Izzy smiled. "I know that." She said. "Just right now, I want you guys safe and out of Ross' control. He's not a friend and he'll sooner throw you in the Raft than keep his word. Promise me you guys will stay away from him?"

She felt the tightness in her chest loosen as they both promised. "You guys are welcome to stay here if you want to avoid Ross or anyone else. Reed and Ben are welcome to do the same. Ross can't touch you guys while you're here."

Tony arrived earlier than she expected. He was relieved that Johnny and Sue were going to stay at the Tower and away from Ross.

Izzy hugged Sue first, tighter than normal, unsure if she was going to see them again if things went wrong. She turned to Johnny next and there was definitely more emotion in that embrace from both of them. Izzy and Johnny had known each other over a year before Sue had been adopted and they had always been closer. He could read her better than almost anyone else.

"How worried should I be?" He asked quietly into her ear as they embraced.

She paused for a little too long.

"You need me, you call me." He said tightening his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Thanks Johnny." Izzy said. "I'll see you guys soon."

Izzy joined Tony on the chopper and waved to her friends as they took off.

They were barely in the air before Tony got a call. They needed to get to the compound, immediately. As they flew over the compound, they could see the scorch mark on the lawn of an explosion that had gone off. They landed with Vision waiting for them. The android looked distressed.

They were taken inside to the common area and Izzy stared at the hole in the floor that went down through several layers of concrete into the earth below. Vision informed them that Clint had arrived to take the twins to Steve, Wanda had used her powers to overpower Vision and launch him down to create the hole.

Izzy felt Tony staring intently at her as he listened to Vision's report. However, she continued to just stare at the hole in shock. It was one thing she didn't have to fake, she was impressed by Wanda's power.

Tony and Izzy sat in a suffocating silence in the chopper on the way back to Europe, Vision was too distracted by his concern for Wanda to notice. Vision had mentioned to them Wanda's reluctance to leave because of her guilt for causing the damage in Nigeria, still worried about people fearing her. Izzy stared out her window, heart racing with every moment that ticked by.

They had just crossed into European airspace when they got the call that they had a potential sighting in Germany; the shield and EXO-7 suit were gone as well though they couldn't pin down who had taken it.

T'Challa had agreed to join them so with that addition and the new recruit, Izzy knew they were on even numbers with those on Cap's team. However, she was still holding out hope that it wouldn't come to a fight.

Izzy stood with Tony on top of one of the parking garages at the Leipzig airport while they waited for everyone to be evacuated.

"I'm not going to ask how you convinced him to do it." Tony said quietly after a minute. "Barton would do anything for you, but did you stop for one second to think about the consequences for him? Or Laura and the kids?"

Those words hurt worse than the fall that gave her the concussion. "I don't know what you mean." She replied not looking away from the tarmac, scanning for Steve.

Tony scoffed. "Sure, you don't." He said. "You want to know something interesting about being a parent? I know you well enough to know when you lie."

Rhodey announced that he had spotted Steve.

"Funny." She said blandly, turning her eyes back to him before they took off. "I thought I knew you that well at one point too."


	59. Chapter 59

**Whew! Longest chapter to date! Hope you guys like it. There are a few things in this chapter that I will probably come back and fix later on but for now I am happy with it. There are a few things in this chapter that, if you haven't clocked what's going on so far, I will explain in the coming chapters when it comes to behaviors and a not so subtle callback a couple chapters ago.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy and Tony off into the air, flying over the tarmac. She easily spotted Steve running towards a helicopter. He wasn't making any attempt to hide and definitely not moving full speed.

Tony fired a small disk into the helicopter, disabling it. He landed with Izzy on his right side and Rhodey landing on his left.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Tony said and looked at Rhodey as his helmet retracted back. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird." Rhodey said.

Izzy's helmet retracted and Steve briefly met her gaze.

"Hear me out, Tony." Steve said. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

As he spoke T'Challa jumped over a luggage truck flanking Steve. "Captain." T'Challa said.

"Your Highness." Steve replied.

"Anyway..." Tony said. "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

"You're after the wrong guy." Steve said.

"Your judgement is askew." Tony said in an angry tone. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him." Steve replied. "I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

Tony glanced at Izzy at the mention of the super soldier. She met his gaze. She had tried to tell him, multiple times.

"Steve..." Steve turned back to Natasha who had come up behind him. "You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?"

"All right, I've run out of patience." Tony said. "Underoos!"

Izzy watched as a figure in a red and blue suit flipped out of some hiding spot, using webbing to snatch Steve's shield and tie up his hands. She had to admit she was amazed to see Spider-Man in action. She had initially shown Tony the footage months ago and they had been keeping track of Peter Parker since.

"Nice job, kid." Tony said.

Steve stared at him in surprise.

"Thanks." Peter said brightly. "I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just... New suit. It's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's perfect. Thank you."

Despite the situation, Izzy smiled at his chatter.

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation." Tony said.

"Okay." Peter said and looked at Steve. "Cap. Captain. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later." Tony said.

"Hey, everyone." Peter kept talking.

"Good job." Tony said.

Steve looked at Peter and then back at Tony. "You've been busy." He said a bit amused.

"And you've been a complete idiot." Tony said turning to him. "Dragging in Clint...'rescuing' Wanda from a place she didn't even want to leave, a safe place." He wanted to yell about Izzy but couldn't without implicating her. He didn't trust T'Challa at the very least not to turn her in to Ross. "I'm trying to keep...I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

"You did that when you signed." Steve replied.

"All right, we're done." Tony said losing his cool. "You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us...or a squad of J-SOC guys...with no compunction about being impolite." Tony looked sad as he looked at Steve. "Come on."

Izzy looked at Tony. Despite all that had happened, it didn't erase 16 years of the love she had for him, she knew he hated this, but she knew he was handling this wrong.

"We found it." She heard Sam's voice in her earpiece. She was tuned in to Steve's side on a private channel while coms for Tony's came through her helmet. "Their Quinjet's in hangar five, north runway."

Steve raised his hands and an arrow flew out from an unknown location to cut the webbing holding them together.

"All right, Lang." Steve said.

Izzy glanced at Peter, her helmet raising up.

"Hey, guys, something..." Peter cried out as Scott Lang, or Ant-Man, who was sitting on the shield grew to a normal size and kicked Peter, knocking him back and taking the shield.

"Whoa. What the hell was that? Rhodey said.

"I believe this is yours, Captain America." Scott said handing the shield back to Steve.

"Oh, great." Tony said annoyed. "All right, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"

"Got two in the terminal." Rhodey said. "Wilson and Barnes."

"Barnes is mine." T'Challa said running in that direction.

Izzy moved to follow him as Steve threw his shield and hit Rhodey, knocking him back.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, what should I do?" Peter asked.

"What we discussed." Tony replied. "Keep your distance, web them up."

"Okay, copy that." Peter said.

Izzy landed as she saw a blur on the tarmac. She felt her heart race as Pietro stopped in front of her. "Hey." She offered.

"Hey." Pietro replied. "Well, this seems familiar."

Last time they were against one another Izzy had electrocuted him. It seemed like a life time ago.

"I don't suppose you want to call a truce?" She asked.

Pietro smirked. "Nah. We've been talking about a rematch for a while." He said lightly.

They had been talking about it. It had started on a mission to Portugal just after she turned sixteen where they had posed as boyfriend and girlfriend in a club that was a cover for sex traffickers. Because the laws really weren't enforced, they had indeed been drinking while there and they had started talking shit to each other that had just continued the last few months.

"Well this time a cheap shot won't save you." She teased as she listened with half an ear to the others.

Steve was fighting T'Challa while Scott was unfortunately facing Natasha. Peter was attempting to face both Sam and Bucky who were inside the airport terminal and from what she could hear Peter was doing a pretty good job.

"Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings." Tony said.

"You locked me in my room." Wanda replied.

Tony sighed. "Okay, first, that's an exaggeration." He said. His voice was softer when he continued. "Second, I did it to protect you."

Wanda paused and Pietro paused in front of Izzy as he listened as well. The twins had actually started to warm to Tony in the last six months, looking to him for things and even crashing at the Tower occasionally when they had a day off from Avenger-ing. The confinement to the compound had been a huge setback for that relationship.

"Hey, Clint." Tony said.

"Hey, man." Clint said.

"Clearly, retirement doesn't suit you." Tony said.

 _You either._ Izzy thought with a roll of her eyes.

"You got tired of shooting golf?" Tony asked.

"Well, I played 18, shot 18." Clint said with a shrug. "Just can't seem to miss." He fired three arrows at Tony, who dodged them easily, blasting them with a repulsor shot.

"First time for everything." Tony said.

"Made you look." Clint said.

Wanda pulled multiple cars down from the garage. Tony dodged most of them, but one hit him, knocking him to the ground, and a couple more compounded on that.

"Multiple contusions detected." FRIDAY said.

"Yeah, I detected that, too." Tony said.

Pietro raced off to grab Wanda and Izzy flew over to Tony, throwing a car off and helping pull him up.

"Is it too late to mediate?" Izzy asked him.

"Ask him." Tony replied.

Izzy looked over at Steve who was being cornered by T'Challa, Rhodey, and Natasha. Scott ran up to Steve holding something.

"Hey, Cap, heads-up!" Scott said handing Steve a shrunken down truck and held up a little disk that looked like a throwing star with a blue light in the center. "Throw it at this." Izzy zoomed in to see the truck and her eyes widened. "Now!"

Izzy flew forward as Steve threw it, the little disk making the truck grown. It was tanker filled with gasoline for the planes. Izzy grabbed Natasha out of the way so she wouldn't get burned by the resulting explosion and fire.

"Oh, come on!" Rhodey said barely getting out of the way.

T'Challa had jumped out of the way and wasn't harmed.

Izzy turned to look at Scott, he couldn't see her glare, but it seemed like he felt it.

"Oh, man, I thought it was a water truck." Scott said sheepishly. "Uh, sorry."

"All right, now I'm pissed." Rhodey said.

Iron Man landed by side Izzy and Natasha.

"Is this part of the plan?" Natasha asked as Tony pull her up.

"Well, my plan was go easy on them." Tony said. "You wanna switch it up?"

Izzy felt like screaming. If they would just stop and listen, then they wouldn't be doing this at all!

Clint had the twins with him as they ran towards the quinjet. "There's our ride." He said.

Steve and Scott joined them running. "Come on!" Steve shouted to Bucky and Sam as they made it down to the tarmac. They weren't going to make it to the jet. They were stopped as a beam of energy cut across their path.

"Captain Rogers..." They all looked up at Vision who was hovering in the air. "I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good...you must surrender now."

Tony bringing Natasha and Rhodey with T'Challa flew in, blocking their path to the jet. Izzy cut her thrusters, landing on the end as Peter landed next to her.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked.

"We fight." Steve said firmly starting forward.

The others followed, steadily increasing their speed.

Izzy closed her eyes and dropped her head.

"This is gonna end well." Natasha said.

Tony started forward and the others followed.

"They're not stopping." Peter said.

Tony's voice was grim. "Neither are we."

Both sides broke into a run and they clashed in the middle. Sam and Wanda launched themselves into the air to meet Rhodey and Vision. Tony and Steve fought as T'Challa and Bucky faced off. Clint and Natasha were locked in a pretty even match as Wanda flung things at Peter.

Clint managed to get Natasha on the ground.

"We're still friends, right?" Natasha asked.

"Depends on how hard you hit me." Clint said with a smirk.

Natasha wrapped her legs around his neck to flip him over and was about to land a kick to his face when Wanda caught her foot and threw her away.

Clint looked at Wanda.

"You were pulling your punches." Wanda said before moving again.

Pietro knocked in to Izzy, the rapid vibration of his movements messing with her suit's readout display. In a very familiar action, she sent an electric current through him and knocked him back.

"Still haven't learned." Izzy chided and flew into the air. She looked at T'Challa and Bucky, who were both unable to gain an advantage over the other.

Bucky caught T'Challa by the neck, but it didn't work as well against the suit. T'Challa kneed him in the chest.

"I didn't kill your father." Bucky said.

"Then why did you run?" T'Challa demanded.

 _To be fair, I'd run if you were chasing me too._ Izzy thought and flew in as Wanda used her magic to grab T'Challa and throw him away from Bucky.

Bucky saw Izzy and brought his metal arm up to block her kick as she dropped out of the air. She easily switched and got a punch in to his jaw, not hard enough to break anything but enough to leave a nasty mark.

"Sorry." She offered. "But you kind of deserved that."

Bucky actually had a ghost of a smile as he nodded in consent to that point before engaging her briefly in a fight before they had to separate to avoid Rhodey and Sam.

Izzy noticed Peter heading for Steve and she watched curiously after blasting Scott back from Natasha.

Steve threw his shield, cutting Peter's webbing, and used the magnetic recall that she and Tony had created to interact with the Vibranium, to call the shield back to his hand.

"That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all." Peter said.

"Look, kid, there's a lot going on here that you don't understand." Steve said.

"Mr. Stark said you'd say that. Wow." Peter said. He shot some webbing at Steve's face, which he blocked with the shield easily. However, Peter also got webbing around his right leg and pulled him forward. Peter kicked Steve's shield sending his back into some crates. "He also said to go for your legs."

Steve went for his shield, but Peter grabbed his arms, pulling them back with the webbing. With a show of strength, Steve jerked his arms forward, spinning in the arm and bringing Peter forward to land a kick, sending the kid flying.

"Clint, can you get him off me?" Sam's request caught her attention and she looked up to see Tony was at Sam's six o'clock and gaining fast.

"Buckled in?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. No, I'm good." It was Scott. "I'm good, Arrow Guy. Let's go!"

Izzy narrowed her eyes as she watched Clint fire an arrow. Tony got rid of it before it could cause damage, but it seemed like the arrow wasn't the only thing that had been flying through the air.

"Stark tell you anything else?" Steve asked.

"That you're wrong." Peter said. "You think you're right. That makes you dangerous."

Izzy shook her head slightly as she heard that.

Peter tried a frontal attack, which was stupid against Steve and got rewarded with a kick to the chest, sending him into one of the wheels for the retractable tunnel that would connect to a plan.

"Guess he had a point." Steve said and threw his shield, taking out the support for the tunnel, causing it to collapse and Peter to catch it. That was an impressive amount of weight for him to be able to hold. "You got heart, kid. Where you from?"

"Queens." Peter said straining.

Steve smiled faintly. "Brooklyn." He said before running off.

Izzy flew in to save Peter, taking the weight of the tunnel so Peter could get out from under it. As she did that, Tony had FRIDAY deploy the fire suppression system in his suit to get Scott, who was causing the suit to malfunction, out.

Steve and Bucky ducked under a plan, shielded from higher up.

"We gotta go." Bucky said. "That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

"We gotta draw out the flyers." Steve said. "I'll take Vision, you get to the jet."

"No, you get to the jet!" Sam said as Rhodey pursued him in the air. "Both of you! The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"As much as I hate to admit it..." Clint said. "if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it."

Steve's head dropped and he and Bucky shared a look before Steve looked over and saw Izzy fly past them.

 _If we lose, we need someone on the inside._ Izzy clenched her jaw.

"This isn't the real fight, Steve." Sam said.

"All right, Sam." Steve said in a grim tone. "What's the play?"

"We need a diversion." Sam said. "Something big."

Scott was the one who spoke. "I got something kinda big." He said. "But I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half...don't come back for me."

Izzy jumped in surprise. _Tear himself in half?_

"He's gonna tear himself in half?" Bucky echoed her thoughts in confusion.

"You sure about this, Scott?" Steve asked.

"I do it all the time." Scott said. Izzy didn't believe him. "I mean, once. In a lab." There it was. "Then I passed out." He started muttering to himself as he ran in tiny form. "I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss." He jumped onto Rhodey's boot as he passed by in the air. After he made some adjustments to his suit, suddenly Scott grew…very, very big.

"Holy shit!" Izzy and Peter said at the same time.

"Okay, tiny dude is big now. He's big now." Rhodey said as Scott held on to Rhodey so he couldn't fly away.

"I guess that's the signal." Steve said as they stared at him in shock.

Sam flew by and was grinning. "Way to go, Tic Tac!" He called out.

Tony was standing on the ground staring up at them. "Give me back my Rhodey." He said.

Sam came out of left field and kicked Tony, knocking him away. Scott threw Rhodey to the side as Vision came in.

"I got him." Peter said jumping up and grabbing Rhodey with a web and slowing him down so Rhodey could reverse direction and not crash into a plane.

Scott kicked a bus in T'Challa's direction, before it could hit him though Vision came down and stood in the way, the bus breaking in half around him. T'Challa saw Steve and Bucky running for the jet and went after them.

Izzy flew up and cut Tony off from his pursuit of Sam, so he didn't get taken out by a giant plane turbine that Scott was throwing.

"Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose..." Tony said. "I'm open to suggestions."

Scott cut T'Challa off. "You wanna get to them...you gotta go through me." He said. He kicked at T'Challa but Rhodey and Peter came in to take him on.

Clint engaged T'Challa on the ground. T'Challa was fast enough to dodge his arrows, he finally caught the last two that detonated in his face but the Vibranium suit prevented any damage. T'Challa stood, the Vibranium claws on his hands coming out.

"We haven't met yet." The archer said adapting his bow to a staff to use in close combat. "I'm Clint."

"I don't care." T'Challa said.

Rhodey went to go after Steve and Bucky but Wanda started throwing things in his direction forcing him to dodge instead of continuing on.

Vision knocked Scott backwards, but seeing Steve and Bucky almost to the jet, he went through Scott to get past him.

"Something just flew in me!" Scott cried in horror.

Izzy could speak from experience that it was horrifying for Vision to do that. They had almost collided during a mission and Vision had done that to avoid damage to her. She wouldn't let Vision touch her for a week after that.

Vision used the Mind Stone to take out the control tower in order to block Steve and Bucky's escape. However, Wanda caught it with her magic.

Rhodey came in and used one of his sonic projectors to take Wanda out and disorientate her. She lost her hold on the falling tower, but before Bucky or Steve could be crushed Pietro ran in, shoving them forward before speeding back to his sister's side.

Natasha was waiting for Steve and Bucky though.

"You're not gonna stop." Natasha said simply.

"You know I can't." Steve said.

Natasha sighed and raised her arm with her Widow's Bite on it. "I'm gonna regret this." She fired past them both and hit T'Challa who was running towards them. "Go."

Izzy smiled to herself that someone finally listened. However, her attention was taken as Scott took a swipe at her.

"Hey, guys, you ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?" Peter asked.

Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?" Rhodey asked.

"I don't know, I didn't carbon-date him." Tony said. "He's on the young side."

Peter continued on. "You know that part where they're on the snow planet...with the walking thingies?" He said swinging around Scott's legs.

"So many things irritate me about that sentence." Izzy said.

"Maybe the kid's onto something." Tony said.

"High now, Tony. Go high." Rhodey said.

Tony and Rhodey both flew up and punched Scott in the jaw at the same time, knocking him down as his legs were tired up.

"Yes!" Peter cheered. "That was awesome!"

However, Scott caught him with a hand as he was falling and knocked Peter through some crates.

Scott went back to normal size. "Does anyone have any orange slices?" He asked.

Tony and Izzy landed on the ground by Peter and she had the horrible thought that the kid might have been dead, he was lying so still.

"Kid, you all right?" Tony asked kneeling down.

Peter jerked awake and immediately lashed out in defense, but Tony grabbed his arms. "Whoa! Same side. Guess who. Hi. It's me." Tony said.

Peter, his mask half off so Izzy could see the face underneath, relaxed when he saw Tony. "Hey, man." He said.

"Yeah." Tony said with a bit of strained amusement in his voice.

"That was scary." Peter said lightly.

"Yeah." Tony said, tone more serious. "You're done, all right?"

Peter tried to sit up. "What? I'm good, I'm fine." He said.

"You did a good job." Tony said preventing him from moving. "Stay down."

"No, it's good." Peter said. "I gotta get him back."

"You're going home, or I'll call Aunt May!" Tony threatened and stood up. "You're done!" He flew off.

"Wait." Peter said. "Mr. Stark, wait. I'm not done. I'm not...Okay, I'm done. I'm done."

With a sigh, Izzy patted his shoulder. "You did a good job kid." Izzy said. "I'm sorry you got tangled up in this."

She flew off to go after Tony. The jet had taken off and he and Rhodey were in pursuit with Sam following as well.

"Vision, I got a bandit on my six." Rhodey said. Sam got off a shot at Rhodey. "Vision! You copy? Target his thruster, turn him into a glider."

Izzy happened to look back and saw vision was holding Wanda and he fired a shot at Sam from the ground, which he normally wouldn't have done. Sam moved at the last second and the beam caught Rhodey in the chest plate, taking out the reactor powering the suit. Rhodey began to do a nose dive without any power.

"Rhodey!" Izzy called and went after him.

His coms were out, they could talk to him. Tony and Sam also dove to try and catch him.

"Rhodes!" Tony yelled desperately.

Rhodey hit the ground hard and wasn't moving when they reached him. Tony dropped to his side and Izzy right next to him. Tony removed the faceplate to see Rhodey unconscious.

"Read vitals." Izzy said as their helmets retracted.

"Heartbeat detected." FRIDAY said. "Emergency medical is on its way."

Sam landed and stared at them. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Tony had a flash of anger pass in his eyes as he raised a hand and blasted Sam backwards.

Vision landed stared at Rhodey in shock.

Izzy looked up at him. What had happened?

Izzy stared through the window as Rhodey went into the MRI machine to see the extent of the damage to his back. Rhodey falling, watching the people she had called her family being taken away in restraints, everything had gone so horribly wrong.

"How did this happen?" Tony asked Vision who was also watching Rhodey.

Tony's left arm was in a sling and Izzy had a brace back on her bad arm.

"I became distracted." Vision said.

"I didn't think that was possible." Tony said.

"Neither did I." Vision replied in a distant voice.

As they stood there, Tony noticed Natasha standing in the hallway. He moved off and Izzy followed quietly.

"The doctors say he shattered L4 through S1." Tony informed Natasha as they stood at the top of the stairwell, looking out the window at the compound. Izzy had sat down on the top step, leaning against the railing. "Extreme laceration to the spinal cord. Probably looking at some form of paralysis."

"Steve's not gonna stop." Natasha said. "If you don't either, Rhodey's gonna be the best-case scenario."

"You let them go, Nat." Tony said accusingly.

"We played this wrong." Natasha said.

Tony scoffed. "We?" He said incredulously. "Boy, it must be hard to shake the whole double agent thing, huh? It sticks in the DNA."

Natasha's eyes hardened, she looked hurt. "Are you incapable of letting go of your ego for one goddamn second?" She demanded.

"T'Challa told Ross what you did, so..." Tony shook his head and looked at her. "They're coming for you."

"I'm not the one that needs to watch their back." Natasha replied and walked away.

Izzy caught Natasha's eye as she walked away, and Izzy wanted nothing more than to cry. Natasha was willing to work with them and now she was leaving.

Tony got an alert on his watch and brought up a picture of a dead man in a tub. "What am I looking at, Friday?" Tony asked as Izzy stood up to walk over to him.

"Priority upload from Berlin police." FRIDAY replied.

Tony looked at Izzy. "Fire up the chopper." He instructed FRIDAY and the both went to the helipad.


	60. Chapter 60

**New chapter! The calm before the storm...Thank you all for your continued support!**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Izzy sat next to Tony in the chopper flying over the ocean as a storm raged outside as FRIDAY gave them the rundown on their new information.

"The Task Force called for a psychiatrist as soon as Barnes was captured." FRIDAY said. "The UN dispatched Doctor Theo Broussard from Geneva within the hour. He was met by this man."

FRIDAY showed them an image of a guy meeting Dr. Broussard at a car.

"Did you run facial recognition yet?" Tony asked.

"What do I look like?" The AI said snarkily.

"Uh, I don't know." Tony said. "I've been picturing a redhead."

Izzy glanced at him, reaching out to grip his hand.

"You must be thinking of someone else." FRIDAY said.

"Must be." Tony said.

"The fake doctor is actually Colonel Helmut Zemo." FRIDAY said bringing up a dossier with the man's picture, dressed in tactical gear. "Sokovian Intelligence."

Tony closed his eyes for a minute and projected the image in front of them with a wave of his phone, both moving to accommodate to look at the full file.

"Zemo ran Echo Scorpion...a Sokovian covert kill squad." FRIDAY said.

"What happened to the real Broussard?" Izzy asked.

The image changed to show a man dead in a bathtub. "He was found dead in a Berlin hotel room. Where police also found a wig and facial prosthesis...approximating the appearance of one James Buchanan Barnes." FRIDAY said.

Tony's jaw clenched. "Son of a bitch." He said. "Get this to Ross."

"Yes, boss." FRIDAY said.

Izzy sat back in her seat and just silently watched Tony as he mulled over the information. Tony continued to stare at the information in his hand.

"You tried to tell me in Vienna." Tony said in a tense voice, hand clenching his phone tightly.

"Multiple times." She replied. "And not just in Vienna."

Tony rubbed a hand over his face. "God, if I'd only listened…" He said.

It was a long way from saying sorry, but for Izzy it was a huge step in the right directly. She reached out and took the phone from his hand and replacing it with her own hand. "We still have a chance to fix this." She said. "But Cap needs our help."

Tony gripped her hand tightly as they reached their destination.

"This is Raft Prison Control." A voice said over the radio. "You're cleared for landing, Mr. Stark."

The Raft was a piece of S.H.I.E.L.D. that Ross had unfortunately acquired. It was the highest security prison in the world, and it was nearly impossible to escape from. And now there were four Avengers locked inside. They needed to get Sam on their side because he was the only one who knew where in Siberia to go.

Ross was waiting for them when they got off the chopper. He looked…displeased.

"So? You got the files?" Tony asked. "Let's reroute the satellites, start facial scanning for this Zemo guy."

"You seriously think I'm gonna listen to you after that fiasco in Leipzig?" Ross asked. "You're lucky you're not in one of these cells. And your daughter too."

Tony's jaw clenched at the threat, but Izzy put a calming hand on his arm just smiling at Ross, unfazed by his threat. They were led through the facility control rooms, as they passed through, they noticed Wanda and Pietro being monitored in different cells. Wanda was in a strait jacket with a shock collar on. Pietro would try to run but an electric current from his collar would seize his muscles up. They were being held in the danger risk area of the prison.

Izzy's hand tightened on Tony's arm, but her face gave nothing away. Tony's was tense as he turned away from the monitor and they walked in to a room surrounded by cells. Only three of the cells in this room were occupied. Tony scanned the room as Izzy let go of his arm, eyes moving around mapping the security and structure.

The silence of the room was cut by a slow clap. "The Futurist, gentlemen!" Clint said. "The Futurist is here!" Tony and Izzy turned to face him. "He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not."

Izzy tensed as she heard the final defeated note in his voice.

"Give me a break, Barton." Tony said walking forward. "I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."

"Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony." Clint said glancing at him, eye never straying to Izzy.

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey." Tony replied. This place is for maniacs. This is a place for..."

Clint stood. "Criminals?" He said as he moved closer to the bars. "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for. Right?" Tony's jaw tensed. "That didn't used to mean me. Or Sam, or Wanda, or Pietro. But here we are."

Despite everything they learned, they had to play like they were still on Ross' side. They had a mission to complete, which mean they had to argue back. "Because you broke the law." Tony said.

"Yeah." Clint stepping back.

"I didn't make you." Tony said as Clint turned away.

"La, la, la, la, la..." Clint said drowning him out.

"You read it, you broke it." Tony said. "You're all grown up, you got a wife and kids." Clint tensed and he glanced back at Tony. "I don't understand, why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?"

"And what about your kid, Tony?" Clint asked turning back around. He looked at Izzy who wasn't quick enough to look away from his gaze, she froze. "Nice job thinking about her before painting a target on her head."

The way he said it was almost a threat and Izzy actually felt a shiver go up her spine and she took a step back though she knew Clint would never hurt her. It was kind of scary to see that assassin side from his earlier days. Tony had to walk away before it got out of hand.

"You gotta watch your back with this guy." Clint said and slammed his hands against the bars. "There's a chance he's gonna break it."

They moved beyond Clint's cell and crossed in front of Scott's as they did.

"Hank Pym always said you never can trust a Stark." Scott said.

Izzy frowned slightly. That wasn't smart to give up Pym's name in prison. She had to remember to check on Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne when she got back to the states.

"Who are you?" Tony asked before moving on.

Sam's was the last cell.

"How's Rhodes?" Sam asked without turning around.

"They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow...so fingers crossed." Tony said in a somber voice. "What do you need? They feed you yet?"

Sam turned around revealing a nasty bruise on the side of his face that he didn't have before. "You're the good cop, now?" He asked.

"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went." Tony said.

"Well, you better go get a bad cop..." Sam said angrily. "Because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me."

Tony sighed and tapped on his watch. "Well, I just knocked the A out of their AV." He said making Sam pause and glance at the camera in the cell. "We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment. Just look. Because that..." Tony brought up the picture of Dr. Broussard, Izzy moving closer to held shield the image from the cameras. "is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes." Tony looked Sam in the eyes. "Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

Sam looked at Izzy who nodded slightly. "That's a first." Sam said carefully.

"Cap is definitely off the reservation...but he's about to need all the help he can get." Tony said. "We don't know each other very well. You don't have to..."

"Hey, it's all right." Sam said. He took a breath and exhaled through his nose. "Look, I'll tell you...but you have to go alone and as a friend."

"Easy." Tony said.

They had a destination. They didn't have long so they left immediately, Izzy only sparing the briefest glance at Clint, managing to catch his eyes. He had the faintest smile before he turned his grey eyes away.

"Stark?" Ross called as they were almost to the chopper. "Did he give you anything on Rogers?"

"Nope. Told me to go to hell." Tony said. "We're going back to the compound instead, but you can call me anytime. I'll put you on hold. I like to watch the line blink." Tony grinned.

Izzy smiled and saluted mockingly. "Say high to Betty for me." She threw in a dig right before the door closed and they took off.

While they were in the air, they locked in the coordinates of the compound. Tony pulled his sling off, only wincing slightly. He looked at Izzy as she took her brace off and she nodded before they each hit a button and they were pulled backwards as their suits assembled around them before they exited out the bottom of the chopper and flew in the opposite direction.

* * *

 **Yay! Tony and Izzy are on better terms again! Sorry, had to throw that in lol**


	61. Chapter 61

**Nearing the end of Civil War! This has been a crazy ride. This scene was intense to write. I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to tie Izzy in to this part but I think I did okay (let me know what you think). Next chapter I am going to cover a lot and if anyone is confused I will clarify several things in the notes and in the story next chapter. I may do my writer note at the end of the next chapter though so I don't spoil too much.**

 **Note: if there are any major errors like the last chapters, bare with me I'm trying to catch them all but my autocorrect is ridiculous!**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Izzy and Tony arrived in Siberia, spotting the quinjet already with a layer of snow on it though it didn't arrive much sooner than they had. Izzy scanned the bunker, surprised at seeing how deep it went and finding Steve and Bucky in an elevator moving down lower. Flying down the elevator shaft slowly, they reached the level that the two super soldiers were on. Tony pried the doors open and Izzy immediately noticed Steve standing in defensive position in front, shield raised with Bucky standing behind him and one step up, riffle leveled and ready for whatever came out of the elevator.

She had a moment to wonder what it would have been like to see them fight together in WWII.

"You seem a little defensive." Tony said lightly as they walked forward, helmets retracting.

Steve's eyes flicked over to Izzy and she gave a small smile. "It's been a long day." Steve said cautiously.

Tony looked at Bucky, who still had a gun trained on him. Izzy noticed he didn't once aim at her. "At ease, Soldier. I'm not currently after you." He said.

"Then why are you here?" Steve asked.

"Could be your story's not so crazy." Tony said and glanced at Izzy. "Maybe." He looked back at Steve. "Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way." He leaned against a cement pillar. "Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve said and Izzy smirked.

Tony offered a short laugh.

Steve lower his shield. "It's good to see you, Tony." He said.

"You too, Cap." Tony replied sincerely. He glanced at Bucky who was still on the defensive and scoffed in annoyance. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop..."

Steve raised a hand and motioned for Bucky to lower the gun.

Izzy filled Steve and Bucky in on what they knew about Zemo. Steve was grim as he heard that he was Sokovian.

Tony took the lead as they moved forward, scanning for heat signatures, weapons raised in case of an attack. Izzy had the back of the group, scanning in case the Soldiers were awake and tried to flank them. She did notice that there was someone following them, but for now, he seemed to just be observing so she stayed silent.

"I got heat signatures." Tony said as they approached the main room where the soldiers were all kept in cryostasis.

"How many?" Steve asked.

Tony paused. "Uh, one." He said.

They walked into the large room, looking at the tanks that contained the soldiers, which were still inside. They moved closer cautiously.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." A voice said.

Izzy gasped as she got a look at the single bullet hole in each of their foreheads.

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" The voice continued.

"What the hell?" Bucky said as he scanned the tanks.

"I'm grateful to them, though." The voice said. "They brought you here." Suddenly a light flicked on in the back of the room, revealing Zemo behind a bomb shield door.

Tony, Izzy, and Bucky all raised their weapons while Steve threw his shield, though it ricocheted off harmlessly.

"Please, Captain." Zemo said patiently. "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that." Tony said weapons still raised as they all slowly moved forward.

They moved around on each side, Steve and Tony on the right, Bucky and Izzy on the left.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark." Zemo said. "Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

Izzy frowned.

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve said.

"I've thought about nothing else for over a year." Zemo said wistfully. "I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here...I just realized...there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian." Steve said. "Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell." Zemo said. "No. I'm here because I made a promise."

Steve furrowed his brow. "You lost someone?" He asked.

The carefully composed mask that Zemo had composed cracked. "I lost everyone." Zemo snarled. "And so will you." He looked over all of them. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever."

A screen flicked on behind them. Izzy was the first to reach it, her helmet retracting as she saw a date in Russian. 16…1991, her Russian was rusty but if she had to guess, the month said December. Her heart started to pound against her chest.

"I know that road." Tony said confirming her fears. He looked at Zemo. "What is this?"

Zemo didn't acknowledge him, just continued to watch.

Izzy looked up at Bucky for a second, he was looking down in shame, he knew what was coming.

Tony, Steve, and Izzy stood in front of the screen and watched as a car spun out and hit a tree at high speeds. As the hood of the car caught fire a motorcycle pulled up behind the car and stopped.

 _"Help my wife." Howard Stark said as he fell onto the ground. "Please. Help." The figure grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back. Howard stared at him in shock. "Sergeant Barnes?"_

 _A mind-controlled Bucky began to punch Howard in the face with his metal hand until Howard's face was bloodied and he was unconscious._

Izzy cringed and turned away for a second before looking back.

 _"Howard!" They could hear Maria Stark calling from the car. "Howard!"_

 _Bucky put Howard back in the car in the driver's seat and went around to the passenger side, putting his hand around Maria's throat, choking her until she died._

Tony looked at Bucky, who met his eyes briefly and looked away. They looked back at the screen as Bucky shot out the camera that had been watching the whole thing.

There was a deadly silence in the room, Izzy and Steve, who were each one one side of Tony, watched him closely as he continued to stare at the screen.

Suddenly, Tony made a move as if to attack Bucky. Izzy, who was between the two at the moment instinctively held her hands up to stop him as Steve grabbed Tony and held him back.

"No, Tony." Steve's voice was pained.

Tony looked back at him. "Did you know?" He asked.

There was a seconds too long pause and Izzy looked up at Steve.

"I didn't know it was him." Steve said.

Tony could spot the lie like she could. "Don't bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?" He was furious. He wanted to hear it.

Steve paused. "Yes." He finally admitted.

Izzy's hands dropped to her sides, staring at Steve in horror. She knew what was coming even before she saw Tony's hand move.

Tony backhanded Steve, sending him flying to the side as his helmet came up. Bucky raise his riffle, but Izzy blasted it out of his hands. Tony flew past her as Bucky threw a punch, but Tony caught his hand. Tony grabbed him by the neck and flew forward, slamming Bucky on the ground and pinning his metal arm with his boot. Tony aimed a repulsor shot at Bucky's head.

Steve, who had recovered from the hit, threw his shield and hit Tony in the head, ricocheting off the helmet causing Tony to miss. Tony turned to face Steve, who knocked him back with the shield. Tony righted himself with thrusters and flew forward, lowering his shoulder to knock Steve back again. Tony quickly launched leg restraints that wrapped around Steve's ankles, pinning his legs together.

Bucky punched Tony with his metal arm, but Tony just grabbed him and flew up, slamming Bucky against the wall about thirty feet in the air.

"Dad, stop!" Izzy yelled as Tony aimed at Bucky's head again.

Bucky managed to deflect his hand away and used his metal hand to crush the gauntlet, damaging the repulsors. Tony switched to a small missile, but Bucky pushed his arm to the side so the missile fired into a far wall. Whatever he hit caused a chair reaction of equipment, pipes, and concrete to start collapsing, heading right for Tony and Bucky. Izzy flew up to to grab Tony, yanking him back and away before he was crushed, and they were both knocked to the ground.

Steve had broken the restraints off his legs and ran over, narrowly avoiding the falling pieces of metal.

"Get out of here!" Steve yelled at Bucky.

Bucky took off running as Izzy blasted a piece of the ceiling off her and Tony flew forward, taking a shot at Bucky, but missed, only stopping when Steve got in his way. Bucky activated a rocket silo hatch and began to scale up on the ledges to get out.

"It wasn't him, Tony." Steve said. "HYDRA had control of his mind!"

"Move!" Tony said. He flew forward but Steve jumped and caught on to his leg.

Steve slammed the edge of his shield against the bottom of the boot. "It wasn't him!" He said straining to hold on.

Tony broke free and used a laser in his right gauntlet to bring down the doorway, blocking both Steve and Izzy from the silo area.

"Left bootjet failing." FRIDAY said. "Flight systems compromised."

Tony had to land, unsteady. "Ah, crap."

"Cap, move!" Izzy yelled and filed a missile into the rubble, blasting a hole for them to get through. Tony, reaching Bucky, kicked him and Bucky hit the opposite wall hard, falling onto the small grated platform. Tony aimed but Steve reached Bucky first, using the shield to deflect the blast back, hitting Tony in the faceplate. Tony fell, landing on a platform a few layers down. Izzy flew up and put herself between Tony and the super soldiers.

"Dad, stop." She said. "Please, think about this. You can't kill him."

"Isabel, move." Tony said.

"He's not gonna stop." Steve said to Bucky. "Go."

Izzy didn't move. "Dad, please, listen—"

"FRIDAY." Tony said.

Her thrusters cut out and she dropped with a startled scream landing at the bottom and rolling into the concrete ventilation area that lead out into the snow, she was uninjured but shocked that Tony would do that. Tony flew up but Steve jumped, wrapping a grappling line around Tony's neck and dropping, bringing Tony down too, putting space between him and Bucky, who was almost to the top.

Tony tried to target Bucky, but Steve threw his shield. However, Tony blasted it away and it fell.

"FRIDAY, override now!" Izzy said, eye focused above her. "Give me control of my suit!"

"Come on, come on." Tony said unable to target Bucky.

"Targeting system's knackered, boss." FRIDAY said.

Tony grit his teeth in frustration. "I'm eyeballing it." He said and his helmet retracted back.

Taking aim, Tony fired and hit the hinge of the hatch at the top, bringing it down and almost crushing Bucky, who dropped back to avoid it. Tony's helmet closed again, and he flew up. Bucky grabbed a metal pipe and swung at Tony, but he dodged. Tony was able to get Bucky in a choke hold.

"Do you even remember them?" Tony asked.

Bucky's voice was tired. "I remember all of them." He said.

Tony flew backwards and they dropped down. Steve jumped out and caught onto them, breaking Tony's hold and they all dropped, Steve rolling down to where Izzy was, Tony one level up, and Bucky a level up from him.

Tony stood up as Steve got to his feet, obviously in pain.

"This isn't gonna change what happened." Steve said.

"I don't care." Tony said in a cold voice. "He killed my mom."

Tony activated his thrusters and dropped down. He and Steve began trading blows back and forth, Steve tried to get him in a hold and damage the suit but Tony used the thruster in his left gauntlet to launch them to the side, pinning Steve down and punching down hard enough to crack the concrete, Steve just barely moving his head in time.

"FRIDAY!" Izzy yelled as Tony hit Steve.

Bucky jumped down with Steve's shield, hitting Tony and then he and Steve faced Tony together, trading the shield back and forth, far superior at hand-to-hand combat. Izzy's systems came back on line and she blasted Steve back and flew forward to yank Bucky away. As Steve engaged Tony, Bucky hit Izzy, now locked in survival mode. Izzy blocked a hit and tried to keep an eye on Steve and Tony, but Bucky took advantage of her distraction and knocked her against the wall, pinning her. Using his metal hand, he grabbed the reactor in her chest plate, fingers digging in to rip out the reactor.

"Bucky!" She called but he could no longer hear her. Reacting on instinct, she used the focused blast from the reactor in a last-ditch effort. The power behind the blast knocked Bucky away, but with shock, she realized it had disintegrated most of the metal arm. However, now her suit was too damaged to work, and FRIDAY kicked her out of the suit before it lost power for good.

Tony blasted Bucky further away and turned to face Steve who ran at him deflecting the repulsor shots as he ran. They clashed for a moment before Steve knocked Tony back against the wall, gaining the upper hand.

"You can't beat him hand-to-hand." FRIDAY said.

"Analyze his fight pattern." Tony said while getting hit.

"Scanning." FRIDAY said. "Countermeasures ready."

Tony caught the shield before it could connect, surprising Steve. "Let's kick his ass." Tony said.

Izzy was forced to watch helplessly as Tony and Steve fought, currently with Tony having the upper hand. He hit Steve with a blast to the chest, sending Steve to his knees.

Steve looked up, blood at the corner of his mouth. "He's my friend." Steve said.

"So was I." Tony replied before punching Steve twice and then tossing him aside.

Steve hit the concrete pillars leading outside and he hit like a rag doll.

"Stay down. Final warning." Tony said.

Izzy covered her mouth in horror as she watched Steve struggle back up to his feet.

Steve raised his fists up in fighting stance. "I could do this all day." He said.

Tony raised his hand, repulsor charging.

"Dad no!" Izzy called, tears streaming down her face.

Bucky reached over and grabbed Tony's leg, distracting him, but earning a kick to the face for it. It gave Steve and opening to lift Tony into the air and slam him against the very pillar Steve had just hit. Steve punched Tony with his fists before switching to hitting him in the head with his shield.

"Steve, stop!" Izzy cried as the helmet broke away. Steve raised the shield high, like he was aiming for Tony's head. "NO!"

Bringing the shield down, it connected with the reactor, cracking it in half. There was a cold silence as the suit lost power and Steve fell to the side. Izzy stood frozen as she watched them. After a second, Steve pulled the shield from the chest plate and stood, going over to Bucky as Izzy ran over to Tony, dropping down beside him.

Tony turned on his side painfully as Steve pulled Bucky to his feet, supporting his friend.

"That shield doesn't belong to you." Tony called after him. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!"

Izzy watched Steve pause for a moment before he dropped the shield and walked away with Bucky. Tony sat up next to her and she looked at the shield, then back at her father.

Steve and Bucky had disappeared, leaving the quinjet behind. Izzy helped Tony into the jet before setting the course home. When the haze of red cleared and Tony had a minute to breathe, it hit him exactly what he had done. While he may not have regretted going after Bucky, yet, in his anger he had put his child into a very real danger, not from outside sources but from himself.

As Izzy gently and quietly tended his injuries, Tony broke down. Without a word, Izzy wrapped her arms around him, and Tony gripped her tightly like his only remaining lifeline; they stayed that way for a long time.

Instead of the compound, Izzy brought them to the tower telling FRIDAY to make sure that Johnny and the others remained on the guest floors while they recovered upstairs. She would go see them later.

She made Tony sit down while she made some food for them and they sat together on the sofa. She handed him a glass of scotch, enough to take the edge off but making sure that he didn't just crawl into the bottle.

It was late when they both fell asleep, Tony with his head back against the sofa and Izzy curled up against his side. That was how Pepper found them a few hours later.

* * *

 **Yay! Pepper is back!**


	62. Chapter 62

**Omg! End of Civil War. This has been the craziest ride. I love all the feedback that I've gotten and I hope you guys have enjoyed the story so far. Just gonna say I don't think this is my best chapter but when I have time to breathe between school work I will probably redo it. There have been so many emotional moments in here. I am going to have a note at the end to cover things that maybe weren't completely explained in the story. Next chapters are Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther, I am thrilled to start these!**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy watched the scenery pass by the window from the passenger seat of the Audi sports car as Tony drove them to the compound. It felt so normal, like the trip they had taken up there on the first official day the Avengers had relocated there. Glancing at Tony, he seemed okay, but if there was one thing they had always been good at it was putting up a front.

 _~ Izzy stood on the shore of a remote beach watching the waves crash in front of her. It was dark and late, but she had promised to be here. The sound of the waves were loud, so it wasn't so much a sound as a feeling that caught her attention and made her turn._

 _Steve was standing a few paces away from her watching her cautiously._

 _Izzy regarded him silently, waiting for…something._

 _"I didn't think you would come." Steve said quietly._

 _"I promised I would." She said. "The others don't deserve to be in that prison, and you can't get them out by yourself." She walked forward to hand him a communicator and flash drive. "You need to get into the control room and plug this in, it'll get the cells open and release Wanda and Pietro's collars safely, so they aren't electrocuted."_

 _Steve stared at the pieces in his hand for a moment before looking at her._

 _"Nat will meet you to help you get inside." Izzy said. "Good luck." She began to walk away._

 _"Isabel—" Steve called after her._

 _Pausing, she turned back. "I need to get back to New York." She said._

 _"I'm sorry." Steve said._

 _Izzy met his sad gaze. "You know, when I erased that footage and lied about what happened with Pietro in Sokovia you told me that we needed to be able to trust one another as a team." She said. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes and her voice was on the verge of breaking. "But you had already been keeping a much bigger secret for a year by that point." Steve looked down. "Guess Captain America can't follow his own advice."_

 _"I didn't want to open that wound for Tony." Steve said. "Bucky didn't have control over what he was doing—"_

 _"I know that!" Izzy snapped suddenly, grateful for the loud waves buffering down her voice. "Dad knows that. But that reaction you saw in Siberia was created, not just by pain over Howard and Maria, but because a man who was a friend, who he was supposed to be able to trust, knew about it and lied!"_

 _Steve looked down. "I never meant to cause that."_

 _"You never do." Izzy replied and turned away. ~_

Tony pulled up to the front of the compound and they got out, heading up the stairs.

The building was eerily quiet, Izzy half expected Pietro to run past with Sam yelling after the speedster about something or see Vision and Wanda together in the common area. There were no sounds coming from the training rooms where Steve and Natasha would be sparring together. There was no sign of the team gathering in the kitchen area for a meal. It was all just empty.

They found Rhodey and collected him to take him to the physical therapy room.

"It's just the first pass." Tony said as he walked slowly beside Rhodey.

"Yeah." Rhodey acknowledged, in obvious pain as he struggled to walk again.

Izzy was curled up in a chair in the corner, her tablet on her lap as she idly worked on strengthening exercises for her arm and wrist as she followed up on the data she received from the flash drive she had given to Steve. She glanced up at Tony and Rhodey. They had created mechanical braces to help Rhodey walk again, though they couldn't fix his spine. It was unfortunately a work in progress for Rhodey to get use to them and get back to functioning like normal.

"Give me some feedback, anything you think of." Tony said. "Shock absorption, lateral movement. Cup holder?"

"You may wanna think about some AC down in..." Rhodey lost his balance and fell, Tony unable to catch him before he hit the ground. "Ow."

Izzy sat up but Tony held up a hand slightly as he knelt next to Rhodey. Izzy remained where she was, her heart hurting for Rhodey as she watched him struggle.

"Let's go." Tony said. "I'll give you a hand."

"No. Don't help me." Rhodey said taking a deep breath before turning to sit down for a second. He looked at Tony and offered a small smile. "138 combat missions. That's how many I've flown, Tony. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew them. Because the fight needed to be fought. It's the same with these Accords." Tony glanced at Izzy who continued to watch them. "I signed because it was the right thing to do. And yeah, this sucks. This is, uh...This is a bad beat." Tony looked down and Izzy gripped the edge of her tablet tightly. "But it hasn't changed my mind. I don't think."

Tony held out a hand and helped him up. "You okay?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah." Rhodey said as he got his balance back.

They all looked up in confusion when they heard a knock on the glass door. Tony and Rhodey turned and Izzy leaned over to the side to see a FedEx driver was at the glass door.

"Are you Tony…" The man looked at the package. "Stank?"

Izzy choked and started laughing as Rhodey grinned.

"Yes, this is Tony Stank." Rhodey called. "You're in the right place. Thank you for that!" Looked at Tony. "Never dropping that, by the way." He turned to go back to back to his exercises. "Table for one, Mr. Stank. Please, by the bathroom."

Tony and Izzy laughed.

After signing for the package, Tony and Izzy made sure Rhodey was okay before going to Tony's office. Opening the package, Tony pulled out a letter that had his name written in Steve's handwriting. Izzy stood behind his shoulder, reading along.

 _Tony...I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours. Maybe more so than mine. I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the Army. My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part...they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents...I was sparing you... but I can see now that I was really sparing myself. And I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords. I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should. So no matter what...I promise you...if you need us...if you need me...I'll be there._

Tony dumped the box upside down and a burner phone fell out. Izzy wrapped her arms around Tony, resting her chin on his shoulder as they stared at the phone.

"Priority call from Secretary Ross." FRIDAY said. "There's been a breach at the Raft prison."

Tony looked at Izzy. After Pepper had shown up, Izzy had left to deal with Ross, so Tony didn't have to, and she dealt with the cleanup with Zemo, who had been turned over by T'Challa, but before she did, she told him everything about the plan that she had created with Steve in Vienna, including the contingency to get anyone who was captured out of prison. Tony hadn't tried to stop her and had even helped her write the code needed to get the others out of the Raft.

"Yeah, put him through." Tony said lightly, answering the call and putting it on speaker.

Ross voice came over the speaker. "Tony, we have a problem."

"Uh, please hold." Tony said.

"No, don't—" He was cut off as Tony put the call on hold, the line blinking.

Izzy laughed lightly and shook her head.

Tony held the hand that was resting on his shoulder for a moment before he glanced up at her. "Don't you have a flight to catch?" He asked.

Izzy looked at him, scanning his face. He nodded. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders again and placed a kiss against his cheek.

 **Wakanda**

Izzy followed T'Challa through the sterile halls admiring the technology that she saw, the gears in her mind turning as she tried to absorb it all. She had met T'Challa's sister Shuri briefly, and she adored her. Shuri was smart and she had a quick wit with a sharp tongue. She couldn't wait to sit down with her and discuss their tech, but for now she was here for other reasons.

T'Challa led her into another lab at the remote facility they were at and she paused in the doorway as she spotted Bucky sitting on an exam table, his ruined metal arm covered. T'Challa noticed her hesitancy and paused, looking back at her.

Before she could decide if she wanted to turn and leave or not, Bucky looked up and their eyes met. Though he was surprised to see her there, he made no move to leave or even to speak. He seemed curious as to what she would do. T'Challa had initially been concerned about her even coming here but she had assured him she didn't want a fight and she meant it.

"I heard you were going under cryostasis again." Izzy said walking forward with measured steps.

Bucky swallowed and nodded after a second.

Izzy stepped forward closer and pulled up a chair. As she sat down, facing him, she noticed Steve come around the corner and pause, seeing her. T'Challa motioned for Steve to stop and not move forward.

"About your grandparents…" Bucky said.

Izzy closed her eyes for a second. "Don't." She said quietly.

"I am sorry." He said.

"I know that." Izzy said quietly after a second looking up to meet his pale blue eyes. "But forgiveness isn't mine to give on that one."

Bucky nodded, glancing down. "So, why are you here?" He asked.

Izzy swallowed. "I remembered you." She said quietly.

Bucky's head shot up and looked at her with wide eyes.

"That time has been coming back in pieces." Izzy said. "Nat was easier to remember, but the moments leading up to that have been a giant blur. But after Vienna, it's…coming back. It was always a question about how someone had gotten through the security measures that were put in place, but I guess that's what you were good at right?" She smirked slightly. "I remembered sitting in the corner of that yacht, the Hydra members that were there, but you stood in front of me, protecting me." She glanced at Steve who was listening closely.

"You were so quiet." Bucky said softly. "You never seemed to be scared…"

Izzy shrugged slightly. "I was four, I can't tell you what was going through my head at the time." She said. "But I remember when S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked, you gave me your mask, so I didn't breathe in the tear gas and you carried me to a different room. You were so careful when you cleaned off my face and then you made sure Nat found me before you left. Why?"

Bucky paused before he replied. "I didn't want Hydra to break you." He said quietly.

Izzy nodded, silent for a long moment. She finally stood up and reached out to place a hand on Bucky's shoulder before she moved away to let Steve say goodbye to his friend before he went under again.

"You sure about this?" Steve asked.

"I can't trust my own mind." Bucky said. "So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head... I think going back under is the best thing." He glanced at Izzy who was standing by T'Challa. "For everybody."

They watched Bucky go under before T'Challa lead them both out of the lab, neither Izzy or Steve speaking. When they got to another floor where there were living spaces, Izzy saw some faces she wasn't sure she'd ever see again.

"Isabel." Wanda said noticing her first.

Pietro sped over with a grin, arms wrapping around her waist to pick her up and spin her around. Izzy laughed lightly, her arms wrapping around the back of his neck to hold on. She was surprised at the warm welcome as Wanda and Sam each gave her a hug.

After ensuring that everyone was okay, she had a moment to move over to Clint, who had yet to approach her.

"Hi." She said a little timidly.

"Hey kid." Clint said turning to her.

Izzy bit her lip. "I'm sorry." She said after a moment. He looked at her curiously. "I'm sorry I was the one to drag you in to this and pull you away from your family."

"That's not your fault." Clint said seriously. "Tony was right about one thing, I'm a grown up, I made a choice."

"I just don't want you to hate me…" Her voice trembled.

Clint furrowed his brow. "Hey, come here." He said pulling her into a tight embrace, her arms tentatively winding around him in return. He placed a kiss against her hair. "I could never hate you." Her arms tightened around him.

The time to say goodbye came too quickly. Izzy gave hugs to Sam, Wanda, and Clint.

Pietro hugged her but was quick to steal a kiss as well. "You didn't see that coming?" He teased quietly.

"God, your timing sucks." Izzy laughed and grabbed his shirt to give him a better kiss which he eagerly returned.

They pulled apart laughing at the whistles and calls from the others.

Izzy stepped away from them and glanced over, seeing Steve standing further back. She moved over to him while Clint motioned for the others to follow him out of the room to give them a minute.

"I spoke with Nat." Izzy said after a minute. "She'll be here in a couple days."

Steve nodded quietly.

Izzy bit her lip slightly before she made a decision and jumped up, wrapping her arms around him. Steve caught her on instinct, but his arms tightened around her, returning her embrace. "Stay safe Steve." She said. "Don't let them catch you."

He let her back onto the ground and she waved as she boarded the quinjet to head back to the compound.

* * *

 **Okay, so a lovely reviewer made a really great point which I have agreed with from the moment I watched CW, Tony's reaction is very much human and understandable. Steve had no right to keep the information that he did a secret and it would have amplified the response that Tony had. I think from Izzy's perspective, she can be a little more detached from the situation when it involves Bucky because it happened over a decade before she was born. However, her pain is coming straight from the fact that Tony is hurting and the pain that has been caused by the Avengers (their family) being ripped apart. I truly don't think it would have worked for Izzy to be on the opposite side of the fight at the airport because she wouldn't have been able to face Tony in combat. Her and Clint are still buddies and I had to throw in the little kiss with Pietro for the possibility of something to play with later on, but a lot can happen during a year on the run so we'll see if it sticks. As far as the last few lines go, as much as she disagrees with the way Steve handled it and how angry she is at him hurting Tony, Steve has still been a huge part of her life for half a decade, the care that she has for him doesn't just go away because of that.**


	63. Chapter 63

**Hi all! So I didn't think I would have this chapter done yet but I had a few minutes spare time. The next chapter I won't have out until at least Thursday though cause I am no where near done with it. This starts the beginning of Spider-Man: Homecoming. I am touching just a tiny bit on Dr. Strange but I won't flesh that out until much later, possibly not until Infinity War but we'll see I can work it in.**

 **I wanted to make a quick note though. Immediately I want to say, this does NOT go out to any of my reviewers, you all are amazing, you guys brighten my day every time I get an email saying I have a new review. But after a particularly gross PM that I received I feel it is necessary to say, I am not forcing anyone to read this story. If you don't like how it is** **going, okay, I'm sorry, but you don't have to be mean about it, just don't read it. I know I will not make everyone happy, I can't even keep myself happy with what I wrote because I see things I want to change when I'm already 15 chapters committed in, but I use this as a creative outlet while I am in school. It's not to get published, it's for fun. So just chill. Thank you.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

The New York City lights flashed past the window in a lazy manner as the car drove away from the center of Manhattan towards the quiet Queens neighborhood. Tony had met her at the airport after getting back from Europe, she had made a stop in Berlin to pick up Happy and Peter before she came back to the states. While Happy slept near the front of the plane, Izzy had gotten to know Peter a little more.

She liked him, he was funny, sweet, well-mannered and his moral compass was definitely straighter than most people that she knew. He reminded her a bit of Tony in a way, smart and determined, only much more socially awkward, he definitely did not have the confidence yet outside of his hero persona. He was a bit like a puppy.

She sat across from Tony and Peter in the car, maintaining a conversation with Peter but also carefully watching Tony as they drove.

Tony was relaxed in his seat, seeming normal, but to her, she saw the exhaustion.

"What are you doing, a little video diary?" Tony said suddenly, noting Peter's phone at his side.

"Yeah." Peter said a little embarrassed.

"It's all right." Tony said lightly. "I'd do the same thing."

"I told him not to." Happy mentioned from the front. "He was filming. I'm gonna wipe the chip."

Izzy smiled faintly. "That won't be necessary Happy." She said. The one thing she had gathered from Peter was that he knew it was important not to have his identity exposed, especially to protect his aunt.

"Hey. You know what?" Tony said looking at her then Peter. "We should make an alibi video for your aunt anyway. You ready?"

"An alibi?" Peter stuttered in surprise. "Sure. Okay. Miss. Stark, do you want to say something too?"

Izzy chuckled. "Please just call me Isabel, Peter, and no I think my bruises might scare your aunt away from letting you hang out with us." She said lightly though she saw Tony tense slightly. Though they were healing, the marks on her neck were at that sickly yellow stage of healing.

Tony looked up, taking his sunglasses off, a smile now on his face. "We rolling? Get in the frame." Tony said as Peter angled the camera up, Izzy watching amused. "Hey, May. How you doing? What are you wearing? Something skimpy, I hope." Izzy kicked Tony's foot as he laughed, Peter giving him a weird look. "Peter, that's inappropriate. Let's start over. You can edit it." His expression straightened. "Three, two, one. Hey, May. My gosh, I wanted to tell you what an incredible job your nephew did...this weekend at the Stark internship retreat. Everyone was impressed."

"Come on! It's a freaking merge." Happy called suddenly. "I'm sorry."

"This is because you're not on Queens Boulevard." Tony said being a backseat driver. He looked at Peter. "See, Happy is hoping to get bumped up to asset management. He was forehead of security, before that he was a driver."

"That was a private conversation." Happy said unamused. "I don't like joking about this. It was hard to talk about that."

"No, seriously, was he snoring a bunch?" Tony asked Peter.

"Here we are. End of the line." Happy said suddenly as they parked the three of them jerking forward.

Tony looked up at Happy. "Can you give us a moment?" He asked.

"Want me to leave?" Happy asked incredulously.

"Grab Peter's case out of the trunk." Tony instructed calmly.

Peter lowered his phone in surprise. "I can keep the suit?" Peter asked surprised.

"Yes, we were just talking about it." Tony said simply. "Do me a favor, though. Happy's kind of your point guy on this. Don't stress him out. Don't do anything stupid. I've seen his cardiogram. All right?"

Peter nodded. "Yes." He replied.

"Don't do anything I would do, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Tony said. Izzy smiled. "There's a little gray area in there. That's where you operate."

"Wait, does that mean I'm an Avenger?" Peter asked.

Izzy offered him a sympathetic smile. "No." She started to say as Tony looked down.

Happy knocked on the window. "This it?" He asked.

"Seventh floor." Tony called.

"I can take that. You don't have to." Peter said, that puppy dog look on his face again.

Happy seemed unamused. "You'll take it?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I can take that." Peter said not catching the hint.

"Thank you." Happy said dropping the case and giving Tony an annoyed look.

Peter turned to Tony. "So, when's our next—?" He made air quotes with his fingers. "When's our next "retreat," you know?"

"What, next mission?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, the mission. The missions." Peter said excitedly.

"We'll call you." He said.

Peter continued on. "Do you have my numbers?" He asked.

"No, I mean, we'll call you." Tony said not clarifying. "Like, someone will call you. All right?"

"From your team." Peter said nodding. "Okay. All right."

Tony leaned over close, reaching for the door but Peter misinterpreted it and gave him a hug. "It's not a hug. I'm just grabbing the door for you. We're not there yet." Tony said pushing the door open.

Izzy offered him a smile as he got out of the car.

"Bye." Tony said and they drove off.

Izzy moved over to the seat Peter had vacated and looked at Tony. "The Accords still haven't sanctioned anyone under eighteen to sign." She said though there was going to be a big push for it since there weren't a lot of adults left to sign. "Is it a good idea to let him believe he will go on more missions?"

Tony sighed quietly. "At least this way we can keep an eye on him." He said.

So, keep an eye on him they would.

The next day Izzy got up early to head to New York Presbyterian Hospital in hopes of reaching out to a friend. She walked through the Neurosurgeon offices, searching for one in particular. However, as she got to the familiar door, she froze in surprise when she saw the name cleared off and the office empty.

Immediately, she spun around and went to the Emergency Department searching for someone else. As she walked a female doctor came out of a room.

"Dr. Palmer…" Izzy said walking up.

The woman turned and smiled brightly. "Isabel, it's been awhile." Dr. Palmer said. Her smile faded a little as she noticed the healing injuries. "How are you doing with all that's been going on?"

"I'm fine." Izzy smiled faintly even as she watched Dr. Palmer looking at her with a clinical eye. "I didn't come here for a social visit unfortunately." Izzy said. "I was looking for Stephen, but his office isn't there anymore."

Dr. Palmer frowned. "You didn't hear?" She asked after a seconds too long pause.

Izzy frowned. "Hear what?" She asked nervously.

"Stephen was in an accident a couple months ago." Dr. Palmer said solemnly. "And now he's disappeared. No one knows where he's at."

"Oh my god." Izzy said shocked. "How did…oh my god." She shook her head. "Did he leave a note or anything explaining where he was going?"

Dr. Palmer shook her head. "He was in a really bad place Isabel. He couldn't perform surgeries anymore…he became obsessed with finding ways to fix his hands." She said sadly. "I'm worried that he…"

The meaning was clear to Izzy. Desperate men did thoughtless things. She would be really sorry to hear if Stephen Strange fell victim to that cycle though.

"Thanks for telling me." Izzy said putting a hand on her arm.

Dr. Palmer smiled sadly and nodded. "What were you needing him for anyways?" She asked, shaking her head slightly to clear it.

"His magic hands." Izzy said lightly. "My Uncle got hurt recently. Broke his back. I was hoping Stephen could help but I guess not."

"You know if you had stuck with medical school then you would have been performing surgeries right along side him." Dr. Palmer said. "He mentioned a few times how you would have been great at the job. I think he really wanted to train you."

"Funny how he had never ending criticism when we actually worked together." Izzy laughed. "He did love that tech that we came up with though. I dunno, med school was interesting, and I might still go back but right now I have another calling."

Dr. Palmer nodded with a smile. Before they continued with the conversation Dr. Palmer was paged.

Izzy waved goodbye and headed out of the hospital into the bright sunshine.


	64. Chapter 64

**New chapter! So something I forgot to mention, if it wasn't clear, the last chapter took place between when Izzy confronted Steve after the prison breakout and before she went to Wakanda. Anyways, hope you guys like this one, I had to write a little bit of...not fluff because everything is still a bit somber with Izzy...but something moving towards happy again. I realized I really hadn't addressed anything to do with Vision and Izzy interacting so I wanted to throw something in because she was really attached to JARVIS. So a little throw back at the end.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy walked off the elevator at the compound and walked to the kitchen for food. Wakanda was amazing and she couldn't wait to tell Tony about the little bit of tech that she had seen. They were on a current arrangement of, if he doesn't ask about the others she doesn't tell, but she could talk about tech. However, right now, she was starving.

Walking in to the common area she paused as she saw Tony kissing Pepper. Izzy smiled to herself and backed out in to the hall to give them a minute.

Things had been going slow with Pepper being back. It wasn't like any of them could just immediately pick up where they left off, but Tony had been paying a lot more attention to Pepper and Izzy had been throwing a renewed focus into SI with Pepper as well. Things were good, they weren't perfect, but they were heading in that direction.

Counting to twenty, Izzy rounded the corner, making sure her shoes made extra noise on the floor. When she looked up, Tony and Pepper were turning to look at her.

"Hi!" Izzy said brightly. She smiled innocently. "What are you both up to?"

"Waiting for you to come back." Tony replied.

She raised an eyebrow at him. _Sure, you were._ "What do we have to eat? I'm starving." She said changing the subject as she moved to the kitchen.

"There's leftover drunken noodles in the fridge." Pepper said as she stood, straightening her hair subtly.

"Yes!" Izzy said going for the container to throw in the microwave.

Pepper gave her a quick hug. "I have to fly to Tokyo tonight. I'll see you in a few days." She said.

"Fly safe." Izzy said and returned the hug.

Pepper gave Tony another kiss before heading out.

Tony walked over after Pepper left and kissed the top of her head as she leaned against the counter eating her food. "How was Wakanda?" He asked.

"Eye opening." Izzy replied. "That vibranium weave suit of his isn't the only tech surprise from there. I can't wait to fill you in and T'Challa invited me to come back once his coronation is complete to work closely with his sister who runs their tech. Shuri is so much fun dad, you'd really like her."

Tony smiled at her chatter.

"So how is the Spider-ling doing?" Izzy asked before taking a bite.

"Sticking to the local neighborhoods." Tony said. "Happy said he gets about 100 texts a day from him."

Izzy smirked. "I'm sure he's exaggerating." She said.

Tony shrugged. "Happy also said he's quit marching band and robotics lab." He said with a troubled frown.

Chewing thoughtfully, Izzy glanced at him. "He could just be bored with it." She commented. "I would be."

"I would be too." Tony agreed.

Izzy playfully hip checked him. "I can talk to him." She said. "See where his head is at. Last I texted him he said no one but his best friend believes him about the 'internship' so I'm sure it'll be funny if I show up."

"When do you text him?" Tony asked curiously.

"We traded numbers when we were flying back from Berlin." Izzy said with a shrug. "Kid needs more friends, he has like two. Plus, I can sympathize with the whole teen superhero thing."

Tony nodded in consent to the point. "Maybe give him a bit of time to adjust." Tony said. "He's only been back a couple weeks."

Izzy shrugged and tossed her empty container in the trash. "He's a good kid. He'll be okay." She said kissing his cheek and heading off to get some sleep.

The next couple weeks were busy, but Izzy found that she was checking in on Peter, or at least checking with Happy about Peter, more frequently. On a rare day off, and to hide from her security, she decided to get her suit and just fly for a little while. She stayed up pretty high to avoid drawing public attention, but as she happened to be flying, she spotted a familiar blue and red figure swinging through the buildings.

Dipping down, she called out. "Hey kid."

Doing a crazy flip in the air, the eyes of the suit widened. "Hey!" He said before turning back in the air and launching a web to swing himself along further. They made it to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge where they went to one of the highest points, out of sight from the drivers below. "So, what are you doing here? Is there a mission?"

Izzy laughed softly as she stepped out of her suit, reminded of that puppy comparison again. "No, sorry to say." She said. "I was just flying by and saw you swinging through."

Peter happily chatted away, giving her a run-down of his day in crime fighting. Izzy had to admit, sitting at the very top of the bridge, her legs swinging free and watching the traffic below was kind of relaxing. She could see why Peter loved it so much.

"Isabel, are you okay?"

Izzy blinked and realized Peter had finished his story. "Yeah, sorry." She said smiling. "I was just surprised by how peaceful it is up here."

"Yeah." Peter said smiling out at the scene. "It's pretty great. But I mean you get to see all kinds of places though, I'm sure you see stuff like this all the time."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Actually, not really." She said looking away from him and to the water. "Honestly, I travel so much I don't really see anything anymore. Which is crazy cause I loved the water as a kid, especially when we lived in California."

Peter didn't quite know how to reply.

Izzy shook her head slightly. "Sorry, just got distracted there for a minute." She said with a smile. "So, tell me what your routine is like. What is a day in the life of Spider-Man like?"

Peter smiled and began chatting away happily.

Izzy got back to the compound fairly late. She walked through the empty halls after making sure her suit was secured. As she passed the common area, she paused noticing Vision sitting near the chess table, slowly turning a piece around in his fingers as he stared into the distance.

"Viz?" She asked walking over. She kept her voice low to avoid an echo in the near empty room.

Vision looked up focusing his nearly human looking blue eyes on her. "Miss. Stark?" He said.

Izzy sat down slowly across from him. "You okay?" She asked.

"I do not know." Vision replied. "I am not feeling myself."

"Does this have something to do with Wanda?" She asked leaning her elbows on the table.

Vision remained silent for a long moment.

"I'm sure wherever she is right now, she's safe." Izzy offered with a kind smile.

"I've had contact with her." Vision said.

Izzy paused, blinking silently for a moment. _I didn't see that coming._ She thought. "Really? When?" She asked curiously.

Vision raised his head to look at her. He didn't seem keen to answer her.

 _Fair._ Izzy looked at the chess board. She reached out and moved a pawn forward before looking at Vision expectantly.

Vision continued to watch her for a moment before replacing the piece he was holding and moved a pawn in answer to her move.

"Is she doing okay?" Izzy asked softly.

"She is as well as to be expected." Vision replied. His eyes flicked to her face and then back to the board. "As is her brother."

Izzy smiled and they continued to play in silence for the next couple of hours until Izzy yawned.

"Perhaps it would be best if you got some sleep Miss." Vision said.

Izzy smiled at the familiarity as he reminded her of JARVIS. "Probably right." She said. She looked at him hopefully. "Can we continue the game tomorrow?"

"Of course." Vision replied and offered a small smile.

"Good night Viz." Izzy said and stood.

Vision nodded. "Good night Miss."

Izzy walked out quietly adding in her mind. _Good night J._


	65. Chapter 65

**Omg guys! I hit over 50k on views for the story! That is so exciting to me! Here is a brief chapter to hold you guys over. I am having serious writers block and I need to go back and re-watch Spider-Man: Homecoming for inspiration. This one is definitely not going to take as many chapters as the other ones because there is so much that just revolves around Peter and I don't want to force too much.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy sat at her work bench going through some old files that she had been meaning to clear out. She had the news playing in the background just for noise. Normally she would be blasting music, but she wasn't feeling it today. Tony had sold Avengers Tower, and everything was being moved to the compound over the next couple weeks, Happy was supervising it all. There was a finality about it that wasn't sitting well with her. Ask anyone, Starks were not sentimental, but Avengers Tower was…well she had been hoping they would keep it a while longer.

"Hey kid you busy?" Tony asked walking in.

"Nope." She said. "I am just finishing up."

Tony sat down across from her. "I have to head out of town for a few days. Pepper wants me at a meeting in Dubai…" He said.

"Good cover for a long week together." Izzy said teasingly with a grin.

Tony rolled his eyes. "It's an actual SI meeting smart-ass." Tony said smiling. "If we happen to go out after that who knows."

Izzy laughed lightly.

"Will you be okay here?" He asked.

"Of course." Izzy replied. After a minute she smiled. "I'm glad Pepper's back."

"Me too." Tony said and placed a kiss on the top of her head as he went to leave.

Izzy smiled. "Make good choices!" She called after him. She heard him laugh as the door closed.

It was later in the day that Izzy decided to go back to the tower to check on progress but also to get a report from Happy about Peter.

Walking in, she found chaos. People were everywhere, for some reason DUM-E had an extremely expensive antique vase, and Happy was on the phone while signing papers that people put in front of him.

"Glad to see it's going well." Izzy said with a grin as she gingerly took the vase from DUM-E.

Happy wasn't paying attention to her. "Stay away from anything dangerous. I'm responsible for making sure you're responsible, okay?" He was saying to whoever was on the line. Probably Peter. He paused as he listened. "That doesn't sound responsible." He listened again. "Feel free not to."

He hung up the phone and noticed Izzy who waved. "You know, you teen superheroes are a lot of work." He said as they walked to the elevator.

Izzy laughed. "So, I've been told." She replied. "What's going on with Peter?"

"Nothing." Happy said. "He was just talking about a robbery. Something about weird weapons."

The calm way in which he said it was a reminder that their lives were far from normal, but Izzy zeroed in on the words 'weird'. "Weird how, Hap?" She asked.

"He didn't say." Happy replied with a shrug. "Oh, while you're here can you remind your pets not to pick up anything really expensive?"

"DUM-E and U aren't pets Happy." Izzy said. "And they're just trying to be helpful."

"Yeah?" Happy said. "Well they already broke a $1.4 million vase."

Izzy winced. "Yeah. I'll put them on something else." She said.

When Izzy went back to the compound that night, she sat in the common area working on a potential upgrade for Peter's suit when she saw the news cast.

 _Delmar's Sandwiches was destroyed in an explosion after an ATM robbery was thwarted by Queens' own crime stopper...the Spider-Man. As the Spider-Man attempted to foil their heist...a powerful blast was set off, slicing through the bodega across the street. Miraculously, no one was harmed._

Izzy stared at the images thoughtfully. There was something familiar about the way those weapons worked…

Before heading to bed, she sent the information to Tony and told him her plans.

The next day, Izzy waited patiently outside of Midtown Science for school to get out. As the bell rang, students began to file out and almost every one of them stopped to stare.

It wasn't like she was being stealthy about it. She had just come from a meeting at SI and was dressed in a black pencil shirt with a white sleeveless blouse and black heels that gave her legs for days. Plus, she was leaning against a very shine black Porsche convertible.

While typing away on her phone, she could see the crowd that was forming. She smiled to herself as she watched them from behind her sunglasses.

Finally, she saw her target.

Peter was coming out of the school with his best friend, Ned, if she remembered correctly. They hadn't spotted her yet and were looking around in confusion. Ned was actually the first to spot her and his mouth dropped, and he began hurriedly tapping Peter on the arm.

Peter finally spotted her, and his eyes widened. He flew down the stairs as fast as he could without using his powers to reach her.

"Mr. Parker." Izzy said with a smile. "Mind if I give you a ride today? We have a pretty urgent task for you, so we need to head right over to the office."

Peter was as aware of the other students as she was, but she was pretty sure he could hear their whispered comments better than she could because his face was tomato red.

Izzy glanced up at Ned. "Of course, we can take your friend too." She offered lightly.

Peter was at a loss for words as he waved Ned over, who practically tripped over himself to get to the car.

"Hop in boys." She said lightly as she walked around the car to the driver's side.

"Oh my gosh you really do know them!" Ned whispered loudly to Peter as if she couldn't hear him.

"He does." Izzy said with a chuckle. "You're, Ned, right?"

For a minute she thought he would pass out. "You know who I am?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Yes." She said smiling. "Peter's told me a lot about you. Plus, Stark Industries always keeps an eye on promising young talent."

When they dropped Ned off at his house the kid was over the moon with excitement as he got out of the car.

"I think you made his life." Peter said laughing as they drove away.

"Hopefully I didn't make yours harder." She said. "What were the kids saying?"

"You know you're like a year old than me, right?" Peter said at the kid comment.

She glanced at him. "Two years. And don't evade the question." She said.

Peter fidgeted with his books on his lap. "Most were wondering what you were doing there." He said.

"And the others?" She asked looking at his face.

His face got really red again. "They were just making rude comments." He said.

The fact that he was trying to spare her from the rude comments was endearing. She smiled faintly.

He looked at her curiously. "Not that I'm not happy to see you but why are you here today?" He asked.

"I saw the news last night." She said. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. And I wanted to know about the attack."

Peter gave her the rundown on the fight and what he had heard. Each detail disturbed her more and more. Everything he was describing sounded like Chitauri weapons. After cleaning out most of Hydra the only remaining Chitauri weapons were being housed under SI watch. If that tech was getting out it meant it was getting sold or stolen from Stark Industries and both prospects scared her.

"What do you think it could be?" He asked finally as she pulled up to his apartment.

"I dunno." She said. "I'll look in to it though. Just do me a favor, try to just keep your head down for a bit?" If this was a bigger job and they had marked Peter, she didn't want him getting into any more danger.

"I can help though." He said.

"I know you can." Izzy said. "Just do what you normally do and let me know if you hear anything else okay? Also, didn't Ned say you guys have a party to get ready for tonight?"

He nodded and shifted all the books in his lap again.

"Okay," she finally caved. "Where is your backpack?"


	66. Chapter 66

**Hi all! I am back...kind of. The story isn't going as fast as I would like it because I am absolutely swamped with school. Anyways, here is a chapter. I was intending to release this on the first but that didn't work out.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

It wasn't even five hours later that Izzy was getting onto the SI helicopter and she got the alert. Peter's vital signs were going crazy and his parachute had forcibly opened because he had been at a dangerous altitude. Heart jumping into her throat, she immediately got her suit and followed the GPS tracking to where it said Peter was. As she reached the large man-made lake, she knew Tony had gotten the alert too and he had activated his suit from wherever he was at. Both going into the water, Izzy grabbed the chute, tearing it away as Tony pulled Peter from the water. She followed him to the shore.

Peter was not as shaken by his near drowning as she thought he might be.

"And then he just, like, swooped down like a monster..." Peter said animatedly as he sat on the big climbing bubble at the park beside the lake, wringing out his mask. Izzy had landed but Tony's suit was still hovering. "...and picked me up and took me up like a thousand feet and just dropped me. How'd you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit?" Peter looked between the two.

"I put everything in your suit." Tony said. "Including this heater."

On cue the suit warmed up and began to emit steam.

"That's better. Thanks." Peter said no longer shivering as much after his impromptu swim.

"What were you thinking?" Tony asked suddenly.

Izzy winced. She had been on the receiving end of that disapproving tone before. Many times.

Peter did not know him well enough yet to hear it. "The guy with wings is the source of the weapons." Peter said. "I gotta take him down."

"Take him down now, huh?" Tony said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Easy Crockett, there are people who handle this sort of thing."

"The Avengers?" Peter asked hopefully.

"No." Tony said flatly. "This is a little below their pay grade."

"Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come out here." Peter said, back to not listening again. "I had that. I was fine."

 _Sure, you were._ Izzy glanced at the suit.

"Oh, I'm not here." Tony said and the face plate opened to reveal and empty suit. "Thank God this place has Wi-Fi...or you would be toast right now. Thank Ganesh while you're at it. Cheers." Izzy could picture the party he was probably at right now. "Look, forget the flying vulture guy, please."

"Why?" Peter asked frustrated.

"Why?" Tony said. "Because I said so!" His voice lowered as he spoke with someone else. "Sorry, I'm talking to a teenager."

"People are gonna think you're talking to me." Izzy commented.

"I am partially talking to you." Tony said. "You are supposed to be on your way to Vienna right now." She bit her tongue. Tony turned his attention back to Peter. "Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping little people, like that lady that bought you the churro." He sighed. "Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?"

"But I'm ready for more than that now." Peter said.

"No, you're not." Tony said bluntly.

Peter looked up. "That's not what you thought when I took on Captain America." He argued.

"Trust me, kid." Tony said blandly. "If Cap wanted to lay you out, he would've." Izzy glanced at the suit again. That was the first time in months he had mentioned anything related to Steve. "Listen to me. If you come across these weapons again, _call Happy_."

They could hear a noise in the background, an engine revving.

"Are you driving?" Peter asked.

"You know, it's never too early to start thinking about college." Tony said changing the subject. "I got some pull at MIT. End call."

"No, I don't need to go to— "

"Mr. Stark is no longer connected." FRIDAY said cutting Peter off and flying away.

"That's awesome." Peter muttered.

Izzy looked at him sympathetically. She knew exactly what he was feeling. "I know it's hard Peter." She said. "But he really does know what he's talking about with this. Remember what you promised me in the car a few hours ago?"

Peter looked down. "I know but…"

Izzy shook her head. "Don't make excuses kid." She said. "They don't get you anywhere when it comes to this stuff. Trust me I know." With a sigh she looked up at the sky before looking back at him. "I really do need to get going. You get back to your party and let me know how it goes."

With that she flew back to the compound to catch her flight out.

Vienna, beautiful as it was, just held a bitter taste for her now. Izzy sat next to Tony as she listened to the council decide what to do about reinstating her as an Avenger. Ross pushed hard for her to be denied. He was convinced that she was behind Steve's escape as well as the escape of those at the Raft. He was only partially right.

In the end they decided on reinstatement but with probation. She was under strict surveillance as far as the use of her suit for international issues went until her eighteenth birthday in a little over a year.

"Could have been worse." Tony said as they walked out together.

"How so?" Izzy asked as they got in the car. "It's no better than an ankle monitor. I'm treated like a criminal for doing nothing."

"You did break the law." Tony pointed out.

"So did you." She replied sourly.

Tony sighed.

Izzy leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a second as the car started moving. "We need to talk about the vulture guy that Peter was telling us about." She said changing the subject as she opened her eyes again.

"What is there to talk about?" Tony asked.

"Well for starters I looked in to the weapons." She said. "Ever since New York there have been dozens of shipments of Chitauri weapons and Ultron legionnaires that have either not been accounted for or reported missing. We're talking about a lot of alien and our own tech that has just vanished and it's obviously ending up in the hands of criminals."

Tony sighed, in deep thought for a minute before looking up at her. "We'll notify the FBI and have them track the remaining shipments that are heading in to Damage Control." He said.

Izzy furrowed her brow slightly. "Dad if those weapons are getting out it's our responsibility to stop them." She said carefully. "If they're repurposing the items the FBI won't stand a chance and there will be casualties."

"I will take care of it." Tony said. "But I need you to convince Peter to stay away from it all."

"You know as well as I do that he's not going to stay away." She said. "He's too much like you and I, if a little overeager."

Tony frowned. "Which is all the more reason we need to reign him in. If he dies…"

He let the subject hang in the air between them, but she got the meaning loud and clear. It was on them if something happened to Peter.

Izzy sat on her bed at the hotel sifting through information on her Stark phone. She pulled the video footage from Peter's encounter with the flying man.

She watched as it started from the roof of a house where a party was going on. She'd have to ask Peter later and make sure he wasn't using his alter ego as a party trick. Seeing Peter protect the local criminal from the worse criminals was impressive. She winced as he was drug behind the van while being shot at. He had almost caught back up to them when the winged assailant snatched him up, flying him straight up.

Izzy sighed, capturing the image of the Vulture. She left the video footage running, intending to make sure that Peter either went back to the party or went home after the whole ordeal.

What she hadn't expected to see was what Peter came across on his way back to the party. She froze as she stared at the Chitauri energy core in his hands.

"Goddammit Peter." She said tossing her blankets aside.


	67. Chapter 67

**Hi all. I have been so swamped with school, clinicals, and other things and I have been sick af the last few days. I wrote this at 3am while coughing my lungs up. Any mistakes I didn't catch I will fix later on.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"I told you this was going to happen." Izzy said as she and Tony boarded the SI helicopter. "He's a puppy with a bone and we gave it to him."

The minute she told Tony about the energy core she had tried to call Peter, but he wasn't answering his phone.

"Where is he at right now?" Tony asked.

"Happy said that he spoke with Peter when the tracker informed him that he had left the city." She said. "He's at some academic decathlon in DC, which is conveniently not far from the Maryland facility."

They couldn't check in to whether or not Peter was spotted around the Damage Control vault without exposing that they knew who Spider-Man really was.

Tony furrowed his brow. "Great." He said running a hand over his face.

"Our problems don't end there." Izzy said with a tired sigh pulling up the display on her watch. "The tracker hasn't moved from the hotel since last night and the decathlon ended 20 minutes ago."

"He hacked the suit." Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

"You did tell him we were tracking him." Izzy pointed out.

"So, this is my fault?" Tony asked.

"No." Izzy said with a sigh. "It's as much my fault for not rerouting him enough or impressing the danger enough but we should have seen this. He literally did what I did barely 2 months ago."

When FRIDAY alerted them to a new problem, they both groaned simultaneously. They brought up a live feed of the Washington Monument where a bomb had gone off in an elevator trapping the Midtown Science decathlon team. Spider-Man was in the process of trying to save them.

"The x-ray scanners at the monument would be enough to activate the Chitauri core." Izzy said quietly as she watched Peter scale up the side of the building.

Tony sat quietly for a few minutes with a hand to his jaw, staring at the projection of the footage and watched as Peter user gliders to go over the helicopter and then crash through a window at the top of the monument. "You were right. We—I—should have handled this differently." Tony said quietly.

Izzy looked up at him. "What are we gonna do?" She asked.

"I think it's time I have a little chat with Mr. Parker." Tony replied.

They landed at the compound and went their separate ways. Izzy had to set up the monitoring of her mission suit and Tony was taking a car in to Manhattan to go talk with Peter. FRIDAY patched Izzy in to the call as she worked on her suit. Peter sounded like he was telling his suit AI not to answer the call. Another sign he had hacked the suit, the AI shouldn't have activated yet.

"Mr. Parker." Tony said casually not letting on that he knew about the suit. "Got a sec?"

"I'm actually at school." Peter tried. Izzy could hear a weird noise in the background.

Tony didn't buy it. "No, you're not." He replied. "Nice work in D.C."

"Okay." Peter sounded cautious if distracted.

"My dad never really gave me a lot of support." Tony went on. "And I'm trying to break the cycle of shame."

Izzy rolled her eyes. Tony had always given her plenty of support, not counting the rocky last two months so she wasn't sure where he was heading with this.

"I'm in the middle of something." Peter said.

"Don't cut me off when I'm complimenting you." Tony said. "Anyway, great things are about to—" They both heard a noise that sounded like a ferry horn. "What is that?"

"FRIDAY when was that shipment of parts going out by ferry?" Izzy asked knowing the answer.

FRIDAY showed her the display. Ignoring the tracker for the moment, Izzy activated her suit as the conversation continued.

"I'm at band practice." Peter said sounding panicked.

"That's odd." Tony said really trying to give Peter the chance to come clean. "Happy told me you quit band six weeks ago. What's up?"

"I gotta go." Peter said. "End call."

"Hey." Tony said but the line went dead. He sighed. "You get all that?"

"Staten Island ferry." Izzy said. "I'm on my way."

They arrived not a moment too soon. The ferry had been cut in half by some kind of energy weapon, Peter had tried to fix it, but his webs weren't enough. Tony took the right Izzy took the left pushing it back together.

"Hi, Spider-Man." Tony said in that same angry, disappointed tone that always made Izzy wince even when not directed at her. "Band practice, was it?"

"Yeah, Iron Man!" One of the passengers cheered and the others joined suit.

"Mr. Stark." Peter sounded terrified. He swung along beside Tony as he welded the top half and Izzy welded the bottom portion of the ferry. "Hey, Mr. Stark, could I do anything? What do you want me to do?"

"I think you've done enough." Tony said before he flew off.

Izzy stopped to give Peter a lift back to solid ground to wait while Tony sorted everything out with the FBI. Things could not have gone worse.

They stopped at the top of a building overlooking the water to wait. Peter sat on the edge, feet dangling over the side as he took his mask off and stared at the water.

Izzy quietly stepped out of her suit and sat beside him but facing the opposite direction.

"I never meant for this to happen." He said in a small voice.

"I know." Izzy said quietly.

She didn't know what to say, she couldn't save him from this one, the damage was too much. There was only one way to keep him off the Accords radar now.

Tony flew up. "Previously on Peter Screws the Pooch." He said sarcastically. "I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do." That disappointment had bled into his voice the longer the rant went on.

Peter sounded close to tears. "ls everyone okay?" He asked not able to look up.

"No thanks to you." Tony replied.

That seemed to get Peter's attention. "No thanks to me?" He said looking up. "Those weapons were out there, and I tried to tell you about it..." He swung his legs over and walked towards Tony who continued to hover. "But you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me! If you even cared, you'd actually be here." He finished angrily; Izzy just watched sadly.

The suit opened to reveal that Tony was indeed there. Peter took a startled step back from the billionaire, eyes wide.

"I did listen, kid." Tony replied slowly moving forward as Peter stepped back. "Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know we were the only ones who believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid again."

"I'm 15." Peter said meekly.

"No, this is where you zip it, all right?" Tony raised his voice holding up a hand. "The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you died..." Tony held up his hands, face grim. "I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience too."

Izzy frowned slightly.

"Yes, sir." Peter said quietly head hung in shame.

"What?" Tony heard him perfectly but wanted him to speak up and know he understood.

"I'm sorry. I understand." Peter said looking up.

He wasn't off the hook that easily. "Sorry doesn't cut it." Tony said.

"I just wanted to be like you." Peter said, eyes wide and pleading.

Izzy looked up at Tony, unable to read his expression. "And I wanted you to be better." Tony said.

That was probably the most devastating thing for Peter to hear, Izzy watched his shoulders sag and he looked crushed.

"It's not working out." Tony said voice more aloof once again. "I'm gonna need the suit back."

Peter's head came up. "For how long?" He asked.

"Forever." Tony replied firmly. Peter started to shake his head. "Yeah, that's how it works."

"No, no." Peter said. "Please."

Tony wouldn't budge. "Let's have it." He said.

"Please, this is all I have." Peter said near tears once again. "I'm nothing without this suit."

Tony frowned. "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it." He said with finality. Izzy's head snapped up as she heard the words, staring at her father. "Okay? God, I sound like my dad." Back to the normal tone again.

"I don't have any other clothes." Peter said.

"Okay, we'll sort that out." Tony said.

They made sure Peter made it home safe but the flight back to the compound was in complete silence. Izzy was mulling over Tony's words on the roof top. Once back, Tony asked what she had to do before she could get some sleep. She softly replied that she had to finish the software controls for her suit for missions. Tony just silently nodded and moved to join her so they could get it done quickly.

Tony had won the argument of being in charge of her probation. It was ironic, they were undoing everything that she did to prevent what happened in Siberia from happening again. Tony could gain control of her suit again if he wanted to. Her situation was now barely any different than what they had been dealing with Peter and his suit.

They worked in silence for a long time before she dared to break it.

"I was 15 also the first time you _voluntarily_ let me join a mission." She said into the silent lab. They didn't even have music going. "I kept saying how much Peter was like you and I, but I never saw the parallels."

Tony didn't reply but she knew he was listening as they continued to work.

"I made stupid decisions and you faced the same problem." She said. "No one else wanted me to go on the mission to Sokovia but you knew my suit would be needed. You technically recruited me against what everyone else said."

Tony stopped working but didn't look up at her.

"I heard what Pepper said before the mission." Izzy said stopping her work as well. "What kind of started the downward spiral. She said that if I died it would be on you."

"I didn't realize you heard that." He said quietly.

"That fight was kind of hard to miss." She replied. "I know you don't like that I go on missions. I know that you feel guilty that I've been in danger. I know the choices that I've made have had an impact on you and I'm sorry, for all of it."

Tony started to shake his head, but Izzy placed a hand in his arm to draw his attention to her.

"I've spent so much time wrapped up in the idea of the suit and the _mundaneness_ of it all that I forgot to actually look at the circumstances that we were—are—in." She said. "I'm sorry I didn't think about how that came back on your shoulders too."

Tony sighed and pulled her in to a tight embrace. "My choices made that all seem _mundane_." He said using her phrase. "Kid I will never not feel guilty or responsible for what happens to you. After Siberia…"

"Dad…"

He shook his head. "I could have gotten you killed." He said. "I wasn't even thinking about where you were or what could have happened when I had FRIDAY cut your suits power. You could have ended up paralyzed from the fall or you could have died in the explosion inside."

"But I didn't." Izzy said gently gripping his hands.

"Izzy, I didn't see you anymore!" Tony said. "I couldn't hear you anymore. I could have killed you with a stray shot and I wouldn't have known."

"But you didn't." She replied. "Dad, I don't blame you. I don't."

Tony smiled faintly. "I blame myself kiddo." He replied. "And now this thing with your probation and Peter…"

Izzy leaned forward and kissed his forehead before she looked him in the eyes. "We handle this like everything else, together." She said with a smile. "We're a team."


	68. Chapter 68

**That is a wrap on Spider-Man Homecoming. Okay guys, I wrote this chapter with a 101 degree fever, I liked it then. It might change when I re-read it but if you like it (or not) let me know. I know some were hoping that there would be an Izzy/Peter pairing but I honestly can't do it, I tried. He's too much like Tony and Izzy and I felt like I was heading into Game of Thrones territory, it freaked me out. I like the brother/sister/friend relationship they have. I will be honest, I had a dream about the scene at Coney Island and that's how it came about.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy felt bad.

She was laying in her room staring up at the ceiling. The digital projection of the clock, if she bothered to look at it, would show that it was only about 10pm but she was tired. She hadn't slept much since the ferry incident. They had agreed to still monitor Peter in the sense of making sure he didn't do something really stupid and attention grabbing, but for the most part it was radio silence. Peter hadn't even reached out to Happy in the last few days.

Honestly, as much as she understood the need to keep the kid at arm's length now, she missed their text conversations. She missed seeing him swing around New York, she missed hearing the silly stories that he would call in with recapping his day.

Admittedly, she had cheated and checked in on him and found out at least he seemed to be going back to normal, high school life. He was even attending Homecoming tonight.

"Miss, there's a call from Mr. Hogan coming in." FRIDAY announced suddenly, startling her.

"Okay, put him through." Izzy said with a sigh, sitting up. "Happy? It's moving day, I thought you said you had everything set?"

"Someone brought the plane down." Happy blurted out.

Izzy paused. "I'm sorry…what?" She asked.

"The plane crashed." Happy said. "I'm on my way over there right now. I tried to call your dad, but I can't get through…"

"He's with Pepper, he shut his phone off." Izzy said shaking her head. "I'm on my way."

Her suit was unavailable to her at the moment, probation and what not, but no one said she couldn't take the chopper. It didn't take long to get to Coney Island where the plane had gone down. It was immediately noticeable from the air at a distance.

Landing, Izzy walked along the sandy area looking at the downed plane, the multiple fires across the beach, but the thing that caught her attention was the pile of crates that were sitting webbed up on the beach.

Izzy walked up to stand beside Happy and noticed there was a man sitting on the ground, webbed in with the crates with a sign sitting next to his head.

FOUND

Vulture Guy

Spider-Man

P.S.

Sorry about your plane

Izzy smiled as she read the note. "What was it you said about teen superheroes again?" She asked smiling at Happy.

"Yeah, yeah." Happy said and moved forward. "Well Mr. Vulture Guy, you're going away for a long time."

Izzy stepped away from the pile and looked around, putting her sunglasses on. "FRIDAY, you see him anywhere?" She asked quietly as she walked away from the chaos. The display told her where to look. Turning her eyes up, the display in her glasses showed her the lone figure sitting on top of the Cyclone ride, which had long been evacuated. She walked closer until she was at the base of the ride and looked up.

She saw Peter look down at her and then suddenly a web attached to her belt and she only had time to grab the web before she was pulled up. Peter held on to one of her hands as she swung her legs, one at a time, over the railing and stood next to where he was sitting.

"Color me impressed, Mr. Parker." Izzy said with a faint smile. As she spoke, she visually assessed his injuries, most of which were already healing. "That was definitely the work of a hero."

Peter smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What's wrong Pete?" She asked gently.

"The Vulture Guy…" Peter said. "He's the father of my date to Homecoming."

 _Oh know._ "That must really put a damper on things." Izzy cringed slightly.

"He's gonna go to jail and then she's gonna know." Peter said. "And she's not gonna have her dad anymore."

"I understand where you're coming from." She said carefully. "But Peter, you know he's gotta go away. He's done a lot of bad things, he almost killed you…twice now."

"Three times." Peter distractedly corrected. Izzy raised an eyebrow. "I know…I just…"

"You feel bad." Izzy said with a shrug, arms wrapped around herself, holding her jacket closed.

Peter nodded.

Izzy looked out at the scene going on down at the beach and then sighed, reaching out to take one of Peter's hands in hers. "Pete, when my dad showed up at your apartment to recruit you before Germany…you told him that if you have these abilities and the bad things happen, they happen because of you." She said repeating what Tony had told her. "But one thing that I think you are starting to learn is that this life is, necessary, but it is a series of losses. You lose the chance at a date, you lose a bad guy, you lose your suit, you lose friends, you lose family…it's a really hard lesson to learn."

Peter nodded. "Yeah it is." He looked up at her. "What things did you lose?"

Izzy chuckled. "Take your pick." She said. "I've had my suits taken away…"

"Mr. Stark took away your suits?" Peter seemed surprised.

"Many times." Izzy laughed. "I lost my suit for about a year once."

Peter smiled.

"But it's not just that." Izzy said, smile fading. "I lost my birthmother." Peter frowned. "And right now, half of my family is in the wind and are branded as traitors."

"I'm sorry." Peter said.

"Don't be." Izzy said shaking her head. "Look, I know we can never stop you from being Spider-Man, honestly, I don't want to try. I can't promise you'll get your suit back. Just know that the highs, the lows, everything in between, I get it. You have me as a friend and any time you need me, just call. Okay?"

"Okay." Peter said with a half-smile.

Izzy placed a kiss on his cheek before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. After a second of surprise, she felt Peter hug her back.

 **In the interest of time...**

"You sure about this?" Izzy asked as she smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her dress after she slipped her heels on. She looked at Tony, who was standing in the doorway to her room, dressed in one of his more impressive suits.

"It seems like a fair offer." Tony said. "It's what he wanted, and he earned it."

 _I'm not so sure he wants it anymore._ Izzy smiled faintly. She didn't tell Tony about the conversation that she had with Peter on Coney Island that night, it just felt too personal to share. She was interested to see what he would say when Tony broke the news to him.

"Mr. Hogen is pulling onto the grounds with now Boss." FRIDAY announced.

They walked together to where Happy was supposed to wait with Peter for them, near the press room. When they arrived, Peter was watching with wide eyes as one of the quinjets took off.

"You don't see that every day." Happy said, smiling at Peter's joy. He definitely liked the kid now.

"Oh, there they are." Tony said announcing their presence. "How was the ride up?"

Izzy smiled as she walked over to Peter, giving him a quick hug, which he returned with a smile. She linked her arm with his as they waited for Tony.

"Good." Happy said noticing the interaction with a curious expression.

"Give me a minute with the kid." Tony said to Happy, not at all concerned by his child's apparent random display of affection.

"Seriously?" Happy said looking at Tony with a flat expression.

"Yeah." Tony said. "I gotta talk to the kid."

Happy was not happy. "I'll be close behind." He said.

"How about a loose follow?" Tony said favoring his friend with a smile. "All right? Boundaries are good." He turned to Peter and gave him a friendly punch to the chest before putting his arm around the kid's shoulders, Izzy's arm still linked with Peter's as they began to walk. Peter had no idea what to think of this. "Sorry I took your suit. You had it coming. Actually, it turns out it was...the perfect tough-love moment that you needed. To urge you on, right? Wouldn't you think? Don't you think?" Izzy smiled at Tony's chatter.

"I guess." Peter said unsure of what to say.

"Let's just say it was." Tony continued on.

Peter tried to talk. "Mr. Stark, I really—"

"You screwed the pooch hard, bigtime." Tony said. "But then you did the right thing. Took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies..." Izzy gave her father a weird look. "All right, not my best analogy. I was wrong about you. I think, with a little more mentoring...you could be a real asset to the team."

Peter paused. "To the—? To the team?" He stuttered.

"Yeah. Anyway..." Tony said continuing on. "There's about 50 reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers. When you're ready...why don't you try that on?" Letting go of Peter, Tony pressed a button on his watch and double doors opened to reveal a special suit they had been working on. "And I'll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers: Spider-Man."

Izzy let go of Peter's arm, watch the rainbow of emotions that passed over his face, smiling to herself.

"'Can—" Peter couldn't quite get his brain to connect with his mouth as he moved closer to the suit, looking between it, Tony, and Izzy.

"Yeah, give that a look." Tony said grinning. "After the press conference, Happy will show you to your room...your new quarters. Where's he between? He's next to Vision?"

Happy nodded. "Yeah, Vision's not big on doors."

"It's fun." Tony said.

"Or walls." Happy continued.

Tony shrugged. "You'll fit right in." He said.

As they talked, Izzy watched the moment that Peter made his decision and she couldn't have been prouder. He looked at her briefly and she smiled encouragingly.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." Peter said turning to Tony. "But I'm good."

"You're good? Good—?" Tony said confused. "How are you good?"

Peter shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I mean, I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy, right?"

Tony took off his sunglasses. "You're turning me down?" He said. "You better think about this. Look at that." He pointed to the suit. "Look at me. Last chance. Yes or no?"

"No." Peter said without hesitation.

"Okay." Tony said easily, not expecting it, but liking it. "It's kind of a Springsteen-y, working-class hero vibe that I dig. Happy will take you home. Yeah?"

"Yeah." Happy said walking up. He looked at Peter. "Mind waiting in the car? I need a minute."

Peter nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Stark." He said sincerely.

"Yes, Mr. Parker, very well." Tony said shaking his hand.

Peter smiled at Izzy. "See you around." He said.

"Okay." Izzy said with a wave as he walked off. She clasped her hands behind her back as she turned to Tony, who was staring at the suit as he closed the doors.

"That was a test, right?" The three looked back at Peter, who was staring at them. "There's nobody back there?"

"Yes, you passed." Tony said. Izzy grinned, she'd tell him later. Tony waved a hand. "All right, skedaddle there, young buck."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." Peter said and walked off, a bounce in his step.

"Yeah, thank you." Tony said.

"Told you he's a good kid." Happy said turning to them.

Tony held up his hands in a shrug, he was smiling though, proud of Peter's choice. Izzy leaned against Tony's side and he gave her a hug.

The moment was broken as the door behind Tony opened, the loud noise of the reporters in the room finally coming out. Pepper walked out looking around.

"Where's the kid?" Pepper asked.

Izzy's eyes widened and she stepped away from Tony, keeping her head down slightly.

"He left." Tony said going for honesty as he turned around to face the red head.

"Everybody's waiting." Pepper said with disbelief on her face.

Tony smiled faintly. "He actually made a mature choice." He said. "It just surprised the heck out of us."

Pepper didn't buy it. "Did you screw this up?" She asked, though they were unsure who she was directing it at.

"He told the kid to go wait in the car." Tony said pointing at Happy.

Happy looked at him and then back at Pepper in shock. Izzy covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"Are you kidding?" Pepper demanded. "I have a room full of people in there waiting for some big announcement. What will I tell them?"

"Think of something." Tony thought, looking at Izzy, who shrugged. "How about...? Hap, you still got that ring?"

Izzy raised an eyebrow. _What ring?_

"Do I—?" Happy stuttered.

"The engagement ring." Tony said. Izzy's eyes widened.

"Are you kidding?" Happy said reaching into his inner jacket pocket. "I've been carrying this since 2008." He produced a beautiful engagement ring, holding it up.

The three paused, unsure of that statement, but Izzy was more interested in Tony's expression, because he seemed more surprised that Happy actually had a ring. Pepper was giving him a weird look.

"Okay." Tony half laughed in shock.

"I think I can think of something better than that." Pepper said looking at Tony.

"Well, it would buy us a little time." Tony was cut off as Pepper kissed him with a smile. "Like we need time." He said when they broke apart and Pepper turned towards the door.

Izzy had her hands over her mouth, just shy of jumping up and down in excitement.

"I can't believe you have that in your pocket." Pepper said.

"Want me to get the door for you, hon?" Tony started.

"I got it." Pepper said easily swinging it open and walking through.

Tony followed her quickly, catching the ring as Happy tossed it and going through the door, Izzy quickly following.

That night, Izzy found herself sitting on the floor around the coffee table in a hotel room with Tony and Pepper. They had flown to Italy right after the announcement that had the whole room shouting and cameras flashing.

Venice was an important place to Tony and Pepper, but this proposal had to feel real. Even though it was official, it still had the opportunity to feel special.

Tony, with Izzy's help, proposed to Pepper once again in an intimate moment just between them as the sun set in Venice. Tony asking her to marry him and Pepper saying yes.

As they sat in the hotel room, eating room service and drinking champagne, Tony letting Izzy have some, just like they had done so many times while she was growing up, it finally felt like they were getting back to feeling like a family again.

* * *

 **Okay, I tried to be vague about the proposal because I'll be honest, I cannot do that justice and it scared me. If I can think of something that I truly approve of that isn't sappy af I will write it in and post it but for now, I tried to keep it short and sweet.**


	69. Chapter 69

**Okay guys, last chapter before next week. I am procrastinating on my homework and I need to get started. I loved Thor: Ragnarok so much I had to include this scene. Also I decided a long time ago that I was going to include Black Panther in this cause there is one thing specifically I wanted to address. We'll start into Black Panther next chapter (I included a small easter egg in this chapter). Don't worry, we aren't starting from the beginning of the movie.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"Too be fair, I didn't tell you it was a test." Izzy said as she sat on the edge of a rooftop with Peter looking down at the people walking around. She adjusted her ponytail through her baseball cap to accommodate her sunglasses.

Peter had texted her the night the news broke about the engagement freaking out. She had promised to meet with him when she got back from Italy. That was how they were now sitting on this rooftop, drinking smoothies and people watching.

"So, it really was an offer to be an Avenger?" Peter said with an awed expression.

"Offer is still open." Izzy said with a shrug. She took a drink of the smoothie in her hand. "For what it's worth I think you made the right decision for now."

Peter nodded. "I don't regret it." He said taking a drink of his smoothie.

Izzy gave him a side eye, which he noticed.

"Okay!" Peter said cutting his sip short. "I do regret it a little." Izzy smiled and nodded. "But! I know that it was the right decision, so I am just moving forward."

Izzy giggled and went back to people watching.

"Are you excited about the engagement?" Peter asked.

Izzy smiled softly. "Yeah." She said. "They both need that happiness. They deserve it. You are totally invited to the wedding of course."

Peter smiled, swinging his legs idly as he took a long sip of his drink.

Izzy continued on without looking from the people on the street. "You can bring MJ as your date."

Peter immediately started choking on his drink. Izzy blinked and patted him on the back. "Why would you suggest her?" He asked between coughs and gasps of air.

"Oh." Izzy said surprised. "I thought you liked her with the way you talk about her."

Peter's face turned a shade of red bright enough to rival his suit colors. "We're just friends." He said.

"My bad." Izzy said with a shrug, but she grinned at him quick denial. She was about to continue on but the HUD in her glasses alerted her to something on the street.

Turning to stared out into the crowds again she noticed two tall figures walking along the sidewalk. She recognized Thor instantly, he was the reason FRIDAY alerted her to something, but when she recognized who the guy in the dark suit next to him was, Izzy almost fell off the building in shock.

"Hey Pete." Izzy said calmly, careful not to alert him to any issue. "I need to head back, I gotta finish packing for my flight."

"You just got back." Peter said. "Where are you going now?"

"Umm…Seoul." Izzy said distractedly as she stood up. "I have some work to do with Dr. Cho. Can you drop me down to street level really quick?"

Peter nodded easily and stood up with her.

"I'll call you when I get back." Izzy said with a teasing smile. "You can tell me more about how you are not interested in MJ."

"You know I could just drop you." Peter said.

Izzy's mouth dropped in shock. "The puppy has teeth, I love it." She said with a laugh.

Peter laughed good naturedly. "See you later." He said.

Using his webs, he lowered her back to street level, thankfully in the alley so no one noticed. She gave him a quick wave, watching him swing away before she walked out into the throngs of people.

Izzy walked across the street to intercept Thor and his companion. "Welcome back to Earth." She said lightly.

"Lady Stark." Thor said with a smile. "What a coincidence."

"Yeah, I was right across the street." Izzy said casually. "Funny how you run in to people in New York." With that she turned her eyes to the tall man watching her with icy blue eyes. "Reindeer Games."

Loki raised an eyebrow, now recognizing her. "Isabel Stark." He said. "You've grown up."

"It tends to happen." Izzy said.

"Tell me." Loki said with a deadly smirk. "How is Agent Barton?"

Izzy took a step forward, fully intending to hit him, but Thor stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath before she looked at Thor. "Not that I'm not happy to see you Thor, but why is he here?"

Thor motioned for her to walk with them., but purposefully putting himself between Loki and Izzy. He gave her a brief version of the fact that Loki faked his death, gained control of Asgard and put Odin somewhere here on Earth.

"Huh." Izzy said thoughtfully. "Okay. How can I help?"

Loki seemed surprised by her quick acceptance of the situation. Thor smiled in thanks.

They stopped in front of a construction site; an old building was being torn down. Izzy spied a fallen sign that said _Shady Oaks Retirement Center_. She looked at Thor and Loki who were both staring at the scene before them.

"I swear I left him right here." Loki said.

"Right here on the sidewalk, or right there where the building is being demolished?" Thor asked mockingly. "Great planning."

"How was I supposed to know?" Loki asked defensively. "Can't see into the future. I'm not a witch."

"No?" Thor asked. "Then why do you dress like one?"

Izzy covered her smile with a hand.

"Hey." Loki said looking at Thor.

"I can't believe you're alive." Thor said suddenly angry. "I saw you die. I mourned you, I cried for you."

Loki seemed confused and surprised by his anger. "I'm honored." He said with a raised eyebrow.

While the brothers bickered, Izzy had pulled out her Starkphone and was doing some research. "According to this, all residents were moved out over a month ago." She said. "If he's still in some confused state, they could have transferred him anywhere."

"Ask him." Izzy heard someone say close by.

Two girls walked up to Thor as Izzy moved away from them to stand on the other side of Loki. "Hi. Would you mind taking a picture with us?" One girl asked.

"Sure." Thor said as Loki rolled his eyes. "Start figuring out where he is."

Izzy smiled as she watched Thor take a picture with the two girls, who squealed in delight.

"Sorry to hear that Jane dumped you." One of the girls said before they ran off.

Izzy bit her lower lip as she looked at Thor.

"She didn't dump me, you know." Thor said. "I dumped her. It was a mutual dumping."

Loki patted him on the back indicating he should stop. Suddenly, a glowing ring appeared around Loki's feet, startling the three of them.

"What's this?" Thor asked quickly taking Izzy's hand and pulling her closer to him away from the ring. "What are you doing?"

"This isn't me." Loki honestly. Suddenly, the ground inside the circle opened and Loki fell through with a startled cry.

Thor and Izzy stared at the space where he had been. The only thing that replaced him was a business card.

"Loki." Thor said poking the ground with the umbrella he'd been carrying.

Izzy stepped forward and picked up the card reading **177A Bleeker St**. It didn't take them long to get to the address. Walking across the street, they stood in front of the door. Izzy cautiously gripped on to Thor's arm as he knocked on the door. Without warning or explanation, they were suddenly inside the building in a darkened room.

"Thor Odinson." A deep voice said. They turned to see a figure floating on the other side of the room, light from a window outlining the shape of the man and a cape. "God of Thunder."

Floating forward, they saw the man's face and Izzy's mouth dropped as she recognized the man.

"You can put down the umbrella." The wizard looking man said to Thor.

As he said that, an umbrella rack appeared beside Thor, who complied and dropped it in the rack. Without warning, they were in a different room, the wizard leaning against the wall.

"So, Earth has wizards now?" Thor asked as he picked up a small object from a table.

"The preferred term is 'Master of the Mystic Arts'." The wizard said as Thor accidentally knocked over the items on the table. "You can leave that now."

"All right, wizard." Thor said looking at him. "Who are you? Why should I care?"

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, and I have some questions for you." Strange said. "Take a seat." They were suddenly sitting in a study. "Tea?" Cups of a tea appeared in their hands.

"Thank you." Izzy said taking a sip.

"I don't drink tea." Thor said.

"What do you drink?" Strange asked.

Thor shrugged. "Not tea." As he spoke a large stein of beer appeared in his hand which Thor happily drank.

"So, I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world." Strange said looking at Thor. "Your adopted brother, Loki, is one of those beings."

"He's a worthy inclusion." Thor admitted.

"Then why bring him here?" Strange said.

"We're looking for my father." Thor replied honestly.

Strange looked at him, determining if he was lying or not. He looked at Izzy who shrugged. "So, if I were to tell you where Odin was, all parties concerned would promptly return to Asgard?" He asked.

"Promptly." Thor replied easily.

"Great! Then I'll help you." Strange said.

Thor looked at him confused. "If you knew where he was, why didn't you call me?" He asked.

"I have to tell you he was adamant that he not be disturbed." Strange said. "Your father said he had chosen to remain in exile. And you don't have a phone."

"No, I don't have a phone," Thor admitted. "But you could have sent an electronic letter. It's called an email."

"Yeah, do you have a computer?" Strange asked.

"No." Thor said. "What for?"

Izzy took a long sip of tea to avoid saying anything.

"Anyway, my father is no longer in exile." Thor said. "So, if you could tell me where he is, I can take him home."

"Gladly." Strange said as he reached out and took Izzy's tea cup away. "He's in Norway." They were in another room with books, a bit of Thor's beer sloshing out of the stein. If Izzy had still been holding her tea, she would have gotten burned.

"I'm just seeing whether this incantation requires any Asgardian modifications." Strange said as he flipped through a book. "Nope." They were in a different room. "We don't need that."

"Will you stop doing that?" Thor said setting his beer down.

Strange turned to him. "I need just one strand of your hair." He said.

"Let me explain something." Thor said in annoyance. "My hair is not to be meddled with."

Izzy reached up and pulled out a long, golden strand as Strange appeared next to her, taking the strand from her. His hands started sparking as he performed his magic. They moved to the foyer area, Izzy standing next to Strange, but Thor tumbled down the last couple stairs of the giant staircase.

"We could have just walked." Thor said as Strange finished opening the portal. They could see a massive grassy area through the portal and a cool ocean breeze was coming through.

"He's waiting for you." Strange said as Izzy looked around him to see through the portal. He moved her back.

"All right." Thor said.

"Don't forget your umbrella." Strange said.

Thor nodded. "Yes." He said holding out his hand. The three listened to clangs and crashes through the building before the _umbrella_ reached his hand. "Sorry. I suppose I'll need my brother back."

"Oh yeah." Strange said. "Right." He raised his hands up and created a portal in the air, facing down.

They heard screaming before Loki fell out hitting the floor painfully. "I have been falling for 30 minutes!" He said angrily.

Izzy laughed before covering her mouth.

"You can handle him from here." Strange said.

"Yes. Of course." Thor replied shaking hands with Strange. "Thank you very much for your help."

"Good luck." Izzy said hugging Thor.

"Handle me?" Loki said standing, two long daggers appearing from nowhere. "Who are you?"

Thor held up a hand as Strange held up an arm casually in front of Izzy, moving her back. "Loki." Thor said.

"You think you're some kind of sorcerer?" Loki said. "Don't think for one minute, you second-rate..."

"Alright." Strange said. "Bye-bye." He brought the portal rushing forward to swallow both brothers and then closed.

Strange and Izzy stood in silence for a moment. After a minute, Izzy looked at her friend. "So, Stephen…"


	70. Chapter 70

**So here is a new chapter, I'm almost caught up on homework so I thought writing for a minute wouldn't hurt. We are starting Black Panther, but we're starting in South Korea. Hope you guys like it. Had to mention the other Avengers as well and just touch on how some people are doing.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Ditching her shoes and jacket the minute she walked in the door, Izzy walked out onto the balcony of the penthouse apartment to stare at the skyline as the sun was setting, it was beautiful this high up. When Bruce was here, and even now, Izzy made so many trips to Seoul that Tony had invested in a property close to Dr. Cho's lab, so they didn't have to stay in hotels every time they had to come over.

She ran her fingers through her hair, which was now much shorter than it had been. She wasn't used to the shoulder length strands yet, but her head was feeling lighter and she had softer natural waves to her dark hair.

Rubbing her arms against the abnormal chill in the air, she turned to walk back inside. The light summer breeze ruffled the skirt of her summer dress as she turned away. Heading back into the living room area, she turned the tv on for background noise, a local news station being the first thing that came up.

A sudden disruption in the air next to her, though familiar, made her jump. Turning in surprise, brown eyes met blue, and she stared at Pietro in shock.

"Oh my god." She threw her arms around the back of his neck as his arms circled around her waist pulling her close against him. She hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here? It's too dangerous for you to be here."

Pietro pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I wanted to see you." He said.

She pulled back and looked up at him then she looked at the balcony and back to him. "How did you get up here?" She asked in confusion.

"I've perfected a few skills since I last saw you." Pietro said with a smile.

Izzy's eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. Before everything had turned upside down Izzy had hypothesized to the potential of the twins' powers, one of those things was the physics defying possibilities of Pietro's speed, including being able to run up the side of a building and run across water.

"So, it actually works?" She asked science brain running a million miles an hour. "How did you figure it out? How fast are you running when you go up the side of a building? Have you tried water? I need to get some data."

Pietro pressed a kiss to her lips, silencing her chatter. He chuckled as he pulled back. "I've missed you." He said with a teasing smile.

She rolled her eyes but smiled fondly at him. "Are you hungry?" She asked walking over to the kitchen.

He shrugged as he looked around, trailing after her.

After starting the tea kettle, Izzy chewed on her lower lip as she watched Pietro. His hair was a little longer, white streaks a little more prominent than the brown in his hair; he looked tired but still strong. She didn't protest as he gently gripped her hands to pull her closer. As she rested her head against his shoulder, she furrowed her brow as she noticed a new scar that showed at his neck near the collar of his shirt.

Reaching up, she traced the bit of the scar that she could see. Feeling her touch, Pietro glanced down and smiled faintly. He placed a kiss to her forehead.

"It's okay." He said.

"No, it's not." Izzy said quietly, pulling away from him as the kettle whistled loudly. "You guys should be able to come home and not worry about being out there with no backup against the bad guys and running from the people who are supposed to be the good guys."

Pietro, surprisingly, didn't make a snarky reply. He just leaned against the counter watching her as she moved around making a cup of tea.

"How is everyone doing?" Izzy asked quietly. "Are they adapting okay?"

"This isn't that different from what Wanda and I did before Ultron." Pietro said carefully. "Just a bigger area. Steve, Sam, and Nat are all doing fine. I think we both know Nat is far more adapted than the rest of us."

Izzy smiled briefly. "I can believe that." She said.

"Have you spoken to Clint?" Pietro asked.

Izzy shook her head. Clint and Scott had taken deals in order to return to their families, but one of the conditions was no contact with the other Avengers. Though happy that he was no longer a hunted criminal and was back with his family, it killed her not to be able to talk with Clint.

They both jumped as the ringing of her phone cut through the silence between them. Walking over to where she had dropped her jacket on the sofa, Izzy pulled her phone out of the pocket on her jacket quickly denying the call. She sat down on the sofa with a deep sigh, leaning her elbows on her knees as she put her head in her hands.

Pietro walked over, placing her forgotten tea cup on the table in front of the sofa before sitting down next to her.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing." Izzy said turning to him, smiling faintly. She leaned over to kiss him, resting a hand over his heart, feeling the rhythm had a soothing effect on her anxiety.

Pietro carded his fingers through her hair before breaking the kiss with great reluctance. "Not that I don't want to continue this…" He said resting his forehead against hers. "But we have work to do before I check back in."

"Right." Izzy said. "Klaue…tell me what you know."

Passing through the metal detectors, Izzy looked around at the illegal gambling den hidden behind a small shop. She looked around cautiously, trying to locate her target.

 _He killed people at a museum in London. We don't know who he's selling the Vibranium to._

Casually scanning the crowd, she moved along the top floor, gazing down at the gambling tables below. She had a brief moment of guilt as she scanned the occupants, but she crushed it down. She technically wasn't on Accords business, and she was simply observing, so no laws broken. Once she tagged Klaue, Cap and the others would take care of him outside the city. She'd tell Tony when she got back.

As she walked down to the main floor, she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Agent Everett Ross.

Putting Natasha's training to good use, she slipped through the crowds unnoticed, but got close enough to hear conversations that she needed.

The doors she had come through opened again. As she slipped around a craps table, she glanced up and her heart stopped. She stared at T'Challa, along with two women whom she assumed were part of his Dora Milaje.

Easily dodging around a CIA agent who was in no way subtle or observant, she moved over to the bar, picking a spot more on the end to have a clear view of the room. She ordered a glass of scotch from the bartender; wasn't like they were going to check her ID anyways. As she sat there, she caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirror-tiled columns. She had carefully pinned up her hair with a few curls falling to frame her face. She was wearing a beaded black lace evening dress with a thigh high split over her left leg and tall black heels. She had a slender red/gold necklace and a red/gold bracelet on. Thanks to Natasha showing her how, her chosen makeup made her look older than seventeen.

It was interesting to watch the realizations happening as T'Challa and Ross caught sight of each other. T'Challa said something to the one female companion in a green dress, her reply made him smile as they separated. He went to exchange some money for chips as the bartender finally set her drink in front of her.

Taking her glass, she moved away from the bar and wound around a column to move closer to the floor and get lost in the crowd again. She paused as she noticed that she had lost sight of T'Challa. Scanning the room, she raised her glass to her lips, but two fingers on her wrist stopped her from taking a drink.

"You are a long way from home Miss. Stark." T'Challa's calm voice said as he came up alongside her.

"I could say the same You Highness." Izzy replied in amusement as he took her drink and set it on a table. "I assume you're here because of what Agent Ross is buying." When T'Challa didn't reply right away, she raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe you're here because of who the seller is…"

T'Challa sighed without replying, noticing some business men leering at her. "I'd rather not explain to your father why you were injured at an illegal casino. I'll assume you are here without the Accords knowledge?" He asked.

Izzy smiled brightly but let her silence answer the question.

T'Challa reached up to place something behind her ear on her mastoid process.

"What's this?" She asked curiously, touching the small device.

"A communicator." T'Challa replied. "Stay close."

She held on to his arm as they moved away from her small hiding spot, heading towards Agent Ross. As they got closer, she slipped her hand from his arm to move over to a table close by so she could listen but not be seen.

With a last glance at her, the king moved towards the table with the CIA agent. "Agent Ross." T'Challa said as he stood beside him.

"Your Highness." Agent Ross said calmly.

"You are buying from Klaue." T'Challa said. It was not a question.

This seemed to annoy Agent Ross though he remained calm. "What I'm doing or not doing on behalf of the U.S. government is none of your concern." He replied. "Now, whatever the hell you're up to...do me a favor, stay out of my way."

"Rude." Izzy muttered. She knew T'Challa would hear her.

"I gave you Zemo." T'Challa said.

Ross didn't flinch. "Didn't I keep it under wraps that the king of a third world country runs around in a bulletproof cat suit?" He asked. "I'd say we were even. You really need to leave, now."

Izzy glanced over, admiring the calm collection of the way T'Challa was handling things.

"Klaue is leaving out that door with me." T'Challa said lowering his voice and leaning close to Ross. "You've been warned." With that he moved away from Ross to another table.

Izzy left her table and slipped by Ross without him ever knowing she was there.

"Okay, heads up." Ross said into his coms. "The king of Wakanda is here. He cannot leave with Klaue." He reached T'Challa. "All right. Vibranium from the attack on Sokovia links back to a person...that I'm not actually saying I'm here to make a deal with...but that deal will not be called off. When the dust settles, you and me can work something out."

"You gotta admire his tenacity." Izzy said lightly.

"I'm not here to make a deal." T'Challa replied before he moved away from Ross again.

Izzy moved over closer to T'Challa where they could listen and observe as the scene unfolded. The doors burst open on the upper level revealing Klaue and some rather scary looking individuals with him.

"Klaue, plus eight!" The other Wakandan woman, dressed in red, said on the top level.

Subtly moving closer to Izzy. T'Challa said, "General." Looking up.

"In position to secure our exit." The woman in red replied.

"And the Vibranium?" T'Challa said.

"I don't see it yet." The woman in green said now moving from the bar.

The woman in red sounded grim. "I thought there were no weapons allowed in here." She said.

"There's not supposed to be." The woman in green replied.

"Somebody did not get the memo." The woman in red said. "Definitely armed."

Klaue approached Ross with a crazy look and smile.

"Well, that is quite the entourage." Ross said. "You got a mixtape coming out?"

"Oh, yeah." Klaue said with a chuckle, not missing a beat. "Yeah, actually, there is one. I'll send you the SoundCloud link, if you like." He turned back to one of his goons. "Hey, Dave, can you get the link to the tape?"

"This guy is crazier than I remember." Izzy said quietly actually feeling nervous. She frowned. "I'm also positive he had one less arm."

"Please, don't make me listen to your music." Ross said in exasperation. "I just meant you got a lot of people with you."

Klaue laughed. "You think they're for you?" He put a hand on Ross' shoulder, rubbing it in a weird manner. "Don't worry. I can do a deal with you all by myself, thank you very much." He was purposely trying to make Ross uncomfortable.

"Six more." The woman in red said. "It's a setup."

Izzy glanced up to see the new men that had arrived.

"You got the diamonds?" Klaue asked, stilling rubbing Ross' shoulder.

Ross motioned to another agent. "Okay. That's enough." He said finally shaking Klaue off.

"We need to move on Klaue." The woman in green said.

"Stand down." T'Challa said. "We can't afford a shootout."

"Vibranium?" Ross asked.

Klaue reached into the front of his pants. Izzy looked away. "I was going to buy a fancy suitcase." Klaue said setting a brown paper bag on a table. "But I thought I'd save myself some money."

"It's now or never." The woman in green said.

"Stand down!" The woman in red said in Xhosa.

That was the wrong move as one of the hired guns for Klaue spotted her. "Hey!" He said.

Izzy jumped in surprise as a body fell from the upper level and landed on one of the tables, breaking it. People immediately started screaming.

"Wakandans! They're here!" Someone shouted.

Klaue fired at Ross, but only put a few holes in the case carrying the diamonds. T'Challa kicked a table over, crouching down with Izzy.

"And you thought I was going to cause a problem?" Izzy asked as she activate her bracelet to reveal a gauntlet that she used to send a sonic blast at someone aiming a gun at them.

T'Challa shook his head.

"Miss. Stark?!" Agent Ross looked at her in shock as he crouched down behind the overturned table.

"Agent Ross." Izzy acknowledged.

The fight broke out on all levels. As Izzy engaged them, she realized quickly that there were a lot of them but they weren't well trained.

"Kill 'em all!" Klaue yelled as he ran.

"Stay with Agent Ross." T'Challa instructed Izzy before he ran, making a superhuman leap up to the top level, catching the railing before jumping over. "Murderer!"

Klaue tried to fire his gun but the clip was empty. He tossed it away. "You know, you look just like your old man." He said as he held up his arm that Izzy knew had been missing. The arm opened to reveal some kind of energy cannon.

"T'Challa look out!" Izzy called too late.

The weapon fired. T'Challa managed to pick up one of the money containers on the upper level which took the blast, still knocking him back down to the lower level and showering money over the room.

The two women ran out and T'Challa wasn't far behind.

"Come on!" Ross said grabbing Izzy's arm and pulling her with him.

"I can run without you holding on to me." Izzy said in annoyance, yanking her arm free.

Ross glanced at her. "Yes, but I don't trust you not to try and escape." He replied.

Izzy couldn't deny that. She jumped in the front passenger seat of the SUV that Ross led her to while Ross jumped in the driver's seat.

She was half listening Ross as she activated her bracelet to scan for where they went. "Looks like the women have a sightline to Klaue." She said. "Take a right here."

She continued to give him directions until they came across the car chase. Klaue leaned out the window and fired his arm cannon thing at the car, breaking it into pieces. Thankfully the two women had survived.

Ross pulled up. "Hop in." He said. "Put that spear in the trunk."

Izzy got a lock on T'Challa, who was closing in on Klaue. "You need to hurry Ross." She said. "He's almost to a very populated area. If you want to keep this mission under wraps, you're losing your window."

Ross didn't reply but stepped on the accelerator.

Izzy enhanced the videos, enlarging the images to see Klaue destroy the car that T'Challa was riding on, but T'Challa did a crazy parkor jump off the side of a building and grabbing on to Klaue's car, using his Vibranium claws to take out the front left wheel.

Now unstable, the car hit a cementer block and flipping the car end over end. Amazingly it landed right side up.

Klaue fell out of the passenger seat, landing on the ground.

"Klaue!" T'Challa yelled. "Did you think we would forget?"

Powering up his arm cannon again, Klaue fired at T'Challa but the Vibranium suit absorbed the blast without damage. T'Challa reached him and ripped the fake arm off before he could fire again. He knocked Klaue against the car and Klaue fell to the ground again.

"Look at me, murderer!" T'Challa said. "Where did you get this weapon?"

"You savages didn't deserve it." Klaue mocked.

T'Challa grabbed him and slammed him up against the car, raising his right hand with the Vibranium claws extended.

"Oh, mercy, King. Mercy." Klaue called seeing all the people around with their phones out.

"Every breath you take is mercy from me." T'Challa said.

Ross pulled the car up and both women ran out. ""King!" The one in red yelled in Xhosa. "The world watches."

That got T'Challa's attention as he looked up, finally noticing what was going on around them.

"Let's go, huh?" Ross said looking out the window.

T'Challa looked back at Klaue, who was grinning in victory.

Izzy kept her head down to avoid the cameras catching sight of her but as they drove away, Klaue now secured, she went to work on erasing all the footage of the incident as it was posted to the internet.

Glancing back, she met T'Challa's gaze. This whole thing had got to hell.


	71. Chapter 71

**New chapter, it's kinda short. Y'all I am so freaking tired, I've been sick, I've had busy clinical days in the hospital, I went back to work today. Literally, writing is what is making me happy right now and not much else. Ready for a break. Anyways...**

 **Sidenote: I have lost all my motivation to write anything Fantastic Four so other than like a brief mention at some point they won't show up again. Maybe after Endgame I'll go back and erase the rest...idk.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Finally, back in jeans and her red converse sneakers, Izzy tucked her hands into the front pocket of her oversized MIT hoodie as she stared at Klaue, who was strapped to a chair using duct tape.

"Would you mind telling me why you are here Miss. Stark?" Ross asked.

"Avengers business." Izzy replied simply valiantly ignoring the look T'Challa gave her.

Ross didn't believe her. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if I verify that?" He asked.

Izzy turned to Ross with a patient smile. "You and I both know you don't pull the clearance for that. So, one of two things are going to happen. You are going to waste an entire day on the phone trying to verify it while we have to listen to the crazy man ramble. Or you can just accept what I tell you and we can go on with our day and get this done so nothing else goes wrong." She said simply.

T'Challa smiled faintly as he listened.

Ross, who wasn't sure what to say to that, walked away to make his decision.

Izzy moved back to stand next to T'Challa in front of the viewing window to the room Klaue was being held in.

"Hello." Klaue said staring at them from the other side of the one-way mirror. "I can see you! I can. I can see you." He broke into a fit of laughter and made kissy noises at them.

Izzy looked up at T'Challa who was staring at the man with a furrowed brow. The woman, whom he had referred to as General, who she now knew was named Okoye, was standing on his other side. The second woman, Nakia, was posted towards the front of the building helping to monitor security.

Izzy looked back at Ross, who was talking with his team. Ross wanted to call to check on her story, but he also knew she was right, and they were on borrowed time. He headed back over to them.

"So, this is a big mess, huh?" Ross said walking up. He just gave a nod to Izzy indicating he wasn't going to call. "I figured we could go good cop, bad cop. I'll talk to him first, then you guys go in."

"We can't let him talk to Klaue alone." Okoye said in Xhosa.

T'Challa gave Ross an appraising look. "Better to let him talk to Klaue alone for 5 minutes than to make a scene here." He replied in Xhosa but spoke to Ross in English. "After your questioning, we will take him back to Wakanda with us."

"What? No." Ross said. "Look, I like you, a lot. But he's in my custody now. He's not going anywhere. Listen, I'm doing you guys a favor by letting you even be in here." He tapped T'Challa on the arm, which didn't sit well with Okoye.

"If he touches you again," Okoye said in Xhosa. "I'm going to impale him to this desk."

Izzy barely contained her laugh, keeping her face impassive.

"Does she speak English?" Ross asked, having no idea what Okoye had said.

"When she wants to." Okoye replied simply.

Izzy liked her.

"Huh." Ross said thoughtfully before getting back on track. "I'm going in. When I'm done, you guys are up."

"Agent Ross." T'Challa said stopping him.

Ross turned back. "Yeah?" He asked.

"I do appreciate your help in Busan." T'Challa said putting a hand on his shoulder. Izzy was close enough, and at the right position to see the bug planted on his jacket.

"You see that?" Ross said looking at Okoye. "It's called diplomacy." He looked at T'Challa. "You're welcome."

Klaue had moved on to obnoxiously singing "What is Love" by the time Ross walked in to the room.

"Okoye." T'Challa said in quiet reprimand, which Okoye scoffed at. "Play nice."

"Americans." Okoye said.

"Hey!" Izzy said quietly but with an amused smile.

They turned their attention back to Ross, who sat down in front of Klaue, who was still singing. Ross cleared his throat. They could hear the conversation through their communicators.

"You know, you really shouldn't trust the Wakandans." Klaue said. "I'm much more your speed."

"I don't trust anybody, not in this job." Ross replied calmly. "But what I am interested in is that arm cannon out there. Where'd you get that?"

"It's an old mining tool that I made some adjustments to." Klaue said. "But I can get you one, if you like."

"Why don't you give me the name of your supplier, and I'll ask them." Ross replied.

Klaue grinned widely. "He's right outside." He said. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"What? T'Challa?" Ross said in disbelief. "You're telling me that weapon on your arm is from Wakanda?"

"Bingo." Klaue replied. "What do you actually know about Wakanda?"

Ross shrugged. "Um...Shepherds, textiles, cool outfits." He said.

"It's all a front." Klaue said. "Explorers searched for it for centuries. El Dorado, the Golden City. They thought they could find it in South America...but it was in Africa the whole time. A technological marvel. All because it was built on a mound of the most valuable metal known to man. Isipho, they call it. The gift. Vibranium."

"Vibranium, yeah, strongest metal on earth." Ross said.

"It's not just a metal." Klaue said. "They sew it into their clothes. It powers their city, their tech…their weapons."

Izzy glanced at T'Challa.

"Weapons?" Ross said.

Klaue laughed. "Yeah. Makes my arm cannon look like a leaf blower." He said.

"That's a nice fairy tale, but Wakanda is a third world country..." Ross said. "And you stole all their Vibranium."

Klaue immediately began laughing. "I stole...All of it?" He said between fits of laughter. However, his mood quickly changed, face becoming deadly serious and the laughter stopped as Klaue jerked like he would lunge for Ross. "I took a tiny piece of it. They have a mountain full of it. They've been mining it for thousands of years...and they still haven't scratched the surface. I'm the only outsider who's seen it and got out of there alive."

Izzy frowned slightly and glanced at T'Challa. That wasn't true anymore, but she wasn't about to say anything.

"If you don't believe me, you ask your friend what his suit is made of." Klaue continued on. "What his claws are made of."

As he listened, T'Challa walked away from the window, deep in thought. Okoye was close behind him. Izzy looked between T'Challa and Klaue, unsure of where to move.

Ross left the room, probably a little more shaken than he would admit. "Your father told the UN...that Klaue stole all the vibranium you had." He said to T'Challa. "But now he's telling me you have more."

"And you believe the word of an arms dealer strapped to a chair?" T'Challa asked.

Ross was leaning more towards believing. "How much more are you hiding?" He asked.

The door to the room opened suddenly and Nakia came in. "Something is happening out back." She said in Xhosa.

As she spoke, the wall in the back of the building, leading to the room where Klaue was, blasted inwards.

People were yelling. "Get down!"

Izzy started to reach for her necklace, but T'Challa grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the window as it was shot in by the people attacking. He activated his suit as he moved over to the wall.

"Watch out!" Ross yelled and pulled Nakia out of the way.

An agent yelled, "Cover!"

"Grenade!" Someone yelled.

T'Challa saw the grenade and jumped on top of it, the suit absorbing the blast. Seeing it up close, Izzy realized this wasn't the same suit that she saw before.

When T'Challa ran out after the attackers, who had taken Klaue with them, Izzy noticed that Ross hadn't gotten up yet. She went over and knelt next to Nakia as Okoye went after T'Challa. Ross had taken a bullet.

"Oh no." Izzy said pulling Ross' jacket and shirt up in the back to see where the bullet hit.

Other agents had come over as T'Challa came back into the room and knelt next to Izzy to see the wound.

"He just jumped in front of me." Nakia said to T'Challa.

Izzy didn't need to strain to hear Ross' labored breathing. Wakanda was his only hope to survive.

"I don't think he'll make it here." Nakia was saying. "It hit his spine."

"He's got maybe an hour without help." Izzy said looking up at T'Challa.

T'Challa thought for a moment and then looked at Nakia. "Give me a Kimoyo Bead." He said. "This will stabilize him for now."

Izzy watched as he placed the bead into the bullet hole. Ross seemed to immediately relax, slipping into unconsciousness.

"Give him to us." T'Challa said looking at the other agents. "We can save him."


	72. Chapter 72

**Okay, so reading back in what I wrote I realized I put that Izzy was seventeen, she's almost seventeen. I'll have a note at the end of this chapter as well to clarify something.**

* * *

"Our mission was to bring back Klaue." Okoye said. "We failed. This man is a foreign intelligence operative. How do we justify bringing him into our borders?"

"He took a bullet for me." Nakia said.

"That was his choice." Okoye replied.

"So now we are just supposed to let him die?" Nakia said in disgust.

Izzy sat quietly near the back of the Wakandan ship. She glanced up from her Starkphone. She had sent a message to Tony saying that she was going to Wakanda and would be back soon, she would explain everything when she returned. He sent a reply for her to be careful. She had been listening to, mainly Okoye and Nakia debate for most of their flight.

"Let us consider that we heal him." Okoye said. She looked at T'Challa. "It is his duty to report back to his country. And as king, it is your duty to protect ours."

"I'm well aware of my duties, General." T'Challa said. "I cannot just let him die...knowing we can save him."

"Where exactly are we taking him?" Okoye asked.

T'Challa looked up at Okoye. "We will take him to my sister's lab." He said.

Okoye looked back at Izzy. "The Stark girl has only been to one of our remote facilities." She said in Xhosa. "Is it really a good idea to bring her to the main lab?"

Izzy sighed. "I can understand you." She replied back in Xhosa making all three jump in surprise. "And I'm not about to steal tech. Shuri already told me about the lab in the mountain anyways."

The three adults continued to stare at her in surprise.

Rolling her eyes, Izzy switched back to English. "I speak over a dozen languages; you're really surprised that yours is one of them?" She asked before going back to her phone. She missed T'Challa and Nakia both smile at her response.

As they got closer to Wakanda, T'Challa called her to the front of the ship. Izzy didn't think she would ever not be amazed watching the illusion disappear as they passed through the shield surrounding the real Wakanda.

The lab inside of the mountain was a sight to behold. However, after they landed, she turned her attention back to Ross, who was still had a bullet lodged in his spine.

They walked through the halls quickly, Ross on a hover bed covered with a blanket. Okoye had thought ahead and had made sure the only ones stationed along the halls were Dora Milaje that had seen Izzy before.

Shuri met them along the way. She lifted the edge of the blanket to see Ross. "Great! Another broken white boy for us to fix." She said with a grin. "This is going to be fun."

They took him down to the bottom of the lab, under the main column, Shuri took a scan and brought up a manipulatable projection of the damaged area of spine. Izzy stood next to her, watching what she was doing with interest.

"He will live." Shuri said after a minute with a smile. Suddenly, the Kimoyo beads on Shuri's wrist trilled and the music that had been playing in the lab cut out. "W'Kabi is here." She said looking at her brother.

T'Challa tensed. "Stay out of sight." He said to Izzy before going up to head off the new arrival.

"What's going on, brother?" Izzy heard a new voice say. "Where is Klaue?"

"He's not here." T'Challa said reluctantly. He sounded remorseful. "He slipped through our hands."

"Slipped?" W'Kabi said. There was a deep disappointment that Izzy could hear from where she stood. "For 30 years, your father was in power and did nothing. With you, I thought it'd be different. But it's more of the same."

Izzy looked at Shuri, who was staring up at the ceiling with a frown. Nakia and Okoye were both standing, tense as they listened to the conversation.

When T'Challa came back down, Izzy could practically see the weight that had grown on his shoulders. He had to leave so Izzy stayed with Shuri to finish working on Ross. T'Challa promised to return soon. Nakia and Okoye left with him.

"How long will he be out?" Izzy asked as they left Ross to sleep.

"Hard to say." Shuri replied. "Some are out for a few hours; I've seen some sleep for over a day."

Izzy shook her head in amazement but there was something that ate at her as she looked back at Ross.

"What?" Shuri asked.

"I just can't believe some of the advancements you've made." Izzy said. "Some of this stuff is available outside of Wakanda, there are people who can do what you do but it's not streamlined. So Vibranium is the whole key?"

Shuri shrugged. "It's part of it. But you have to know how to work with it." She said.

"And you've never thought about taking it public?" Izzy asked. "What you've created could solve so many worldwide issues. Just with what you've done with Ross…or even Barnes."

"Nakia believes that we should." Shuri said as they sat at one of the work benches. "Everyone before my brother, including my father, believed that it was a threat to Wakanda if we showed the world what we could do."

Izzy furrowed her brow in thought. "What does T'Challa think?" She asked.

"He struggles with the decision." Shuri said. "Many of the elders still want him to honor the old ways. I have more than a few things to say about the traditions…"

Izzy smiled at Shuri's sassiness but didn't reply, she didn't really have a response to that. Instead, she changed the subject. "What is all this?" She asked looking at some of the things spread out on the table.

Shuri grinned and began excitedly explaining what she was working on.

Izzy was impressed as she listened. "So, the new suit is using nanite technology, right?" She asked.

Nodding, Shuri lifted the necklace that T'Challa had left with her. "The nanites are housed in the teeth of the necklace." She said. "It's absorbent and it can redirect the force from an attack back at an opponent."

"I have a prototype for some nano-tech I've been working on." Izzy said. "Would you mind looking at it? I'm kind of stuck."

Shuri grinned and nodded.

The two worked together for the next few hours. Occasionally someone would check in on them, but for the most part they were alone in the lab. Izzy felt a tug of familiarity as they got absorbed in their work, mind briefly going to Tony and Bruce.

T'Challa came back later that evening to find Izzy and Shuri laughing together as they worked with a piece of vibranium. He was upset but was trying to hide it. "Miss. Stark, can I speak with you for a moment?" He asked.

Izzy got up and followed him. "What's up?" She asked, a smile still on her face.

"I need to ask for your help in searching for someone." T'Challa said.

"Okay." Izzy said pulling out her Starkphone from her back pocket. "What can you tell me?"

The information that he had was vague, so the search was taking longer than normal. Izzy glanced up at him as she scanned for matches.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

T'Challa nodded.

"The medical tech that you guys possess…" Izzy said. "The benefit that they can have—"

"I know what you are going to ask Miss. Stark." T'Challa said with a sigh. "But it isn't as simple as you think."

"I didn't say it was simple." Izzy replied feeling a flash of annoyance. "But the benefit to humanity that it could have is not something to brush aside. This tech could fix Rhodey's spine. Maybe if it was available sooner my grandmother could have died in her home with her mind still intact." Izzy broke off as she mentioned Peggy, quickly blinking back tears that stung the back of her eyes.

T'Challa was prevented from replying as her phone chimed.

Looking at the screen, Izzy shook her head. "There's no match." She said. "Unless you have more information to use, this guy doesn't exist."

She started to turn wanting to get away to compose herself again but T'Challa gently grabbed her arm. "Miss. Stark…"

"Just forget it." Izzy said, pushing her emotions down to keep her voice even. "You need to do what's best for your country. Excuse me Your Highness."

She slipped her arm from his grasp and went back to join Shuri who was oblivious to the exchange.

Izzy slept fitfully that night. She felt bad about the way that she had spoken to T'Challa; she had surprised herself with the emotional reaction she had when it came to the topic and she had taken it out on him.

Around 4:00am, Izzy gave up on sleeping and got up, dressing in the borrowed clothes that she had been given the night before. She sat cross-legged on the bed, fiddling with her necklace, moving it around between her fingers, the faint glow from the necklace cast upon her skin. With a sigh, she picked up her Starkphone.

Shuri came and got her around 6:00am so they could return to the lab and continue their work. T'Challa met them along the way. As they reached the lab, Izzy fell back, drawing T'Challa's attention.

"I'm sorry." Izzy said looking up at him. "I overstepped. I know nothing about running a country. I shouldn't have said anything."

T'Challa smiled faintly, though he still seemed sad. "Do not apologize." He said briefly placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't believe that you are wrong when it comes to the aide that Wakanda can give."

"It's just not easy." Izzy finished with a brief smile.

T'Challa nodded. "I am sorry about your grandmother." He offered.

Izzy smiled, brushing a hand over her cheek to wipe away a single tear. "I guess I haven't quite dealt with that yet." She said quietly.

"The loss of family is never easy." T'Challa said, his thoughts obviously on his father.

They stood in a companionable silence for a moment before Shuri came back, having noticed their absence. Izzy went to follow her but paused again.

"Oh, before I forget." Izzy said looking back. "I rechecked a few things on that person you were looking for. I found a blip of something; it seems like the information was erased like someone doesn't want him found. It'll take a bit for me to rebuild the information, but I should be able to have more on him soon."

"Thank you." T'Challa said before he left them to their work. Izzy noticed Nakia meet him at the end of the hall before he disappeared from sight.

It didn't take long before Izzy and Shuri were engaged in working again. They were so absorbed in what they were working on that they didn't notice the now conscious patient that was up and moving.

"All right, where am I?"

Shuri and Izzy both jumped at the sound of Ross' voice, looking back at him.

"Don't scare me like that, colonizer!" Shuri said.

"What?" That term startled Ross. "My name is Everett."

Shuri smiled. "Yes, I know. Everett Ross...former air force pilot and now CIA." She said.

"Right." Ross said looking around. "Okay, is this Wakanda?"

"No, it's Kansas." Shuri replied. Izzy laughed.

Ross was still confused. "How long ago was Korea?" He asked.

"Yesterday." Izzy replied looking back at him.

"I don't think so." Ross said. "Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight."

Shuri chuckled and Izzy smiled.

"They do here." Shuri replied. "But not by magic, by technology." She half motioned to the lab around them. As Ross started to walk around, she instructed firmly. "Don't touch anything. My brother will return soon."

Izzy watched Ross curiously as he walked over to the windows that looked into the mountain. She wasn't quite sure how much of a threat he would be to the Wakanda secret yet, and if he put it together that she had already known about Wakanda…he could put a few other pieces together about what she knew.

"These train things...that's magnetic levitation, right?" Ross said turning back to look at them.

"Obviously." Shuri replied.

Ross gave a disbelieving noise. "Obviously, but I've never seen it this efficient. The light panels, what are they?" He asked.

Shuri, always excited to talk about the science, stood up and walked over. "Sonic stabilizers." She explained.

"Sonic what?" Ross asked as Izzy joined them at the window standing on Shuri's other side.

"In its raw form...vibranium is too dangerous to be transported at that speed..." Shuri explained as they watched the panels activate as the trains came through. "So, I developed a way to temporarily deactivate it."

Ross looked at her in surprise. "There's Vibranium on those trains?" He asked.

"There's Vibranium all around us." Shuri said. "That's how I healed you."

Ross looked at Izzy who met his gaze calmly. She could see him putting it together.

Shuri's Kimoyo beads trilled, cutting off whatever could be said next. She answered, a projection of Okoye coming up. "Where is T'Challa?" The General demanded. "His Kimoyo Beads have been switched off."

"Well, we are not joined at the hip, Okoye." Shuri said with a smile.

Okoye was not amused. "A man showed up at the border who claims to have killed Klaue." She said.

"What?" Shuri said, smile fading.

"W'Kabi is transporting him, as we speak, to the palace." Okoye said. "We need to find your brother!"

Shuri brought up an image of the man they were talking about. "An outsider?" She said confused.

"No, a Wakandan." Okoye said.

"He's not a Wakandan." Ross said looking at the image. "He's one of ours."

Izzy looked at Ross before looking back at the image. The man looked familiar.

* * *

 **So I'm not trying to make Izzy come across as really combative, that's why I had her apologize. The topics of health are important to me and I honestly see Killmonger's point a little bit (not the radicle view at all) but they could still solve so many issues if they shared their tech. Also I'll explain right at the beginning of next chapter why Izzy knows who Killmonger is. I did the math and it makes sense, I promise.**


	73. Chapter 73

**Next chapter! We'll finish up Black Panther in two more chapters and then into Infinity Wars! Y'all, I am not coping well seeing the new Endgame trailers. I'm so nervous and excited to see where everything leads!**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"Erik Stevens." Ross said to T'Challa, Nakia, Shuri, and Izzy. "Graduated Annapolis age 19...MIT for grad school." Izzy raised her eyebrow. "Joined the SEALs and went straight to Afghanistan...where he racked up confirmed kills, like it was a video game. Started calling him Killmonger. He joined a JSOC ghost unit. Now these guys are serious. They will drop off the grid so they can commit assassinations and take down governments."

"That's why I know him." Izzy said quietly. Everyone looked at her. "His time at MIT. I worked with him once when I started second year. He was finishing graduate school. He was charismatic, but really intense."

"Did he reveal anything about his identity?" T'Challa asked.

"He has a War Dog tattoo..." Shuri said. "But we have no record of him."

Izzy frowned. "This feels like a trap." She said looking at T'Challa.

"I must ask you and Agent Ross to remain here." T'Challa said and Izzy nodded.

After T'Challa and Shuri left to go to the palace, Nakia took Izzy and Ross to an office. Once the door closed and locked, they were left in silence.

Ross walked around looking at the books and items on the shelves. There wasn't anything interesting in the room otherwise Nakia wouldn't have left them alone, so Izzy just sat down, curling her legs underneath herself, and pulled out her phone.

"So how long have you known about what they could do here?" Ross asked.

"Since yesterday." Izzy replied without looking up.

Ross scoffed. "Wow, the Black Widow taught you well." He said. "Not even a pause before the lie."

Izzy paused in her tapping on her phone and looked up, face carefully controlled. "What is it you think you know, Agent Ross?" She asked. "Please let's get it out in the open since we're locked in this room."

"I think you already know what I'm going to say." Ross replied.

Izzy smiled mirthlessly. "I think you're paranoid." She replied.

"Not even a flinch in Korea." Ross said. "Instant pals with the Princess, working on tech together. You were at the casino for Klaue, right? Was that on Steve Rogers orders?"

"I've been doing for nearly nine years, there is very little that would make me flinch at this point." She replied. She could practically see his mind changing gears. "You're chasing your tail on this Agent."

"Look, I know you don't like me." Ross said in a kinder tone. "After the arrest of your friends in Vienna…"

Izzy laughed. "You were doing your job. Why would I fault you for that?" She asked. "I have no problem with you Agent. I actually really like you. I just don't trust you."

She went back to her phone, ignoring him. They sat in silence for a long time, she almost thought he had given up.

"Secretary Ross wanted me to be on a team that kept tabs on you." Ross said into the silence.

"You and my cousin." Izzy replied calmly though her shoulders tensed. "Why do you think I don't trust you?"

Ross smirked. "Did you know I turned it down." He asked.

Izzy glanced up at him.

"Believe it or not I don't agree with Secretary Ross making Rogers and the others out as criminals." He said sitting down across from her. "But they did break the law and I have to do my job."

"I know that." Izzy said carefully. She sighed. "Tell me what it is you want Agent."

"Like you said, we're locked in here." Ross said. "We could at least try to be friends."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "You openly accused me of treason. That's how you want to be friends?" She asked.

Ross at least had the decency to look repentant. "You're right. That's my bad." He said. "Start over?"

Izzy stared at him in evaluation. "Okay." She finally said.

They talked for a while, Ross told her about his time in the Air Force and she told him about a project that she was working on to inspire young engineers. After a few hours though, Izzy got restless. The sun was setting, and they hadn't heard anything.

"They've been gone too long." She said glancing at Ross who was pacing the room.

Suddenly the door opened and Nakia came in.

"What's wrong?" Ross asked.

"The king is dead." Nakia replied. Izzy felt like she had been hit in the chest. "Come with me, unless you want to join him." She tossed them each something to cover up with to avoid notice.

Ross and Izzy were silent as they followed Nakia into the woods, trusting her to lead the way. She filled them in on Killmonger's true parentage. As they moved, Izzy began to hear someone speaking.

"First Baba." It was Shuri. She was crying. "And now my brother. Mama, we didn't even get to bury him."

They came around the bend in the trees and the queen mother, Ramonda, stood holding a curved blade in defense, Shuri behind her. Izzy had met the Queen once and had found her warm but stern. The woman looked more broken down at the moment though it was understandable.

"It's me." Nakia said in a whisper.

"Nakia." Ramonda said. "Who is this man?"

Nakia was glancing around checking to make sure they weren't followed. "He's a friend of T'Challa's. He saved my life." She said.

"Where's Okoye?" Ramonda asked.

"Okoye is not coming." Nakia said grimly. "She and the Dora Milaje will serve the new king." She looked around at everyone. "Wait here."

Izzy nodded. As Nakia left, Izzy walked over and pulled Shuri into a tight hug, her heart clenching as she saw her friend's tears, Shuri's arms wrapping around her as she shook with silent sobs.

As they stood there, she heard Ramonda say, "What has happened to our Wakanda?"

 **In the Interest of Time...**

"So where are we going again?" Ross asked as they walked along a road beside a mountain. The other side had a sheet drop down the mountain side.

"We're taking the Heart-Shaped Herb to Jabari land." Nakia replied.

"Heart-Shaped Herb?" Ross said. "What is that?"

Shuri spoke, voice dull. "It gives whoever takes it heightened abilities. It's what made T'Challa so strong." She said.

"And the Jabari can be trusted with it?" Izzy had to ask as she walked beside Shuri.

Apparently, Ramonda was thinking the same because she stopped Nakia. "Nakia. I don't like this." She said. "The Herb belongs to us. We may be creating a bigger monster with M'Baku. Nakia, you should take it yourself."

"I am a spy with no army." Nakia said. "I wouldn't stand a chance."

Ramonda me out a breath she was holding. "We'll go." She consented.

"Oh, boy." Ross said as they started moving again.

Izzy shushed him suddenly, listening.

They all paused hearing chanting and grunting noises. Suddenly, they were surrounded by men in warrior outfits, masks on hiding their faces.

"Oh, shit." Ross said looking around.

 _Language._ Izzy immediately thought.

"Look down." Nakia said. "Stay calm."

"Shuri." Ramonda pulled her daughter close. "Isabel, look down."

Izzy put herself slightly in front of Ramonda and Shuri as they closed ranks in a tight circle as the soldiers closed in on them. It took everything in her to turn her eyes down as the queen said.

They were brought before a large man, clearly the leader and a warrior. Izzy didn't need to ask to know he was the M'Baku they were coming to see.

Ramonda stepped forward. "My son...was murdered in ritual combat." She said.

There was no reaction from the man. "Were the odds fair?" He asked simply.

Nakia spoke. "Yes, but..."

"So, it was less a murder than a defeat." He cut her off.

This angered Shuri. "Do not rub our noses in it!" She said.

"Silence!" M'Baku said looking at Shuri. "I make the pronouncements here, girl."

Izzy narrowed her eyes slightly but held her tongue.

Ross cleated his throat. "Look, uh, Your Highness, the new king is a U.S..."

M'Baku looked at him and began making a grunting noise that the other warriors in the room echoed. He seemed angry that Ross had spoken.

"You cannot talk!" M'Baku said as the noise cut out. "One more word, and I will feed you to my children." They all stood in a tense silence for a long moment. "I'm kidding. We are vegetarians." M'Baku started laughing with the other warriors chuckling as well.

"Great Gorilla M'Baku...this is why we are here." Nakia said clearly done with his antics but trying not to incite a problem. She knelt down producing the herb from her cloak. "To offer this to you." Izzy stared in amazement at the purple plant in her hand. It resembled a heart and it glowed almost like it had a pulse. "An outsider sits on our throne. Only you can help us stop him."

M'Baku's smile had vanished. "Come with me." He said standing up. He led them to a smaller secluded area that looked like it was used for healing. As they reached the top of the area, Ramonda gasped.

"Impossible! Nakia said.

Izzy's eyes widened as her saw T'Challa lying half buried in the snow. Ramonda, Nakia, and Shuri dropped to his side. Izzy knelt slowly, looking over the visible injuries and the bluish tiny to his skin from the cold.

"Is he breathing?" Nakia asked.

"He's in a coma." M'Baku said. "Barely clinging to life. One of our fishermen found him at the edge of the river border. He brought him to me."

"Why do you have him in the snow?" Shuri asked.

M'Baku was almost kind in his reply. "It is the only thing keeping him from joining the ancestors." He said.

"We need to get him to my lab." Shuri said. "I can heal him there."

"Take him." M'Baku said with a shrug. "He'll be dead in seconds."

"He right." Izzy said softly to her friend.

Ramonda looked up. "Nakia, the Herb." She said.

Izzy watched as the queen crushed up the herb. As Ramonda prepared to give the liquid to T'Challa, Izzy stood up and stepped away from them to observe quietly so she wasn't in the way.

"I call upon the ancestors." Ramonda said. "I call upon Bast. I am here with my son, T'Challa. Heal him."

M'Baku turned away from the scene indicating Ross and Izzy should do the same.

"We must bury him." Ramonda said after giving the liquid to T'Challa. "Cover him. Cover him!"

Izzy glanced back to see them covering T'Challa was snow.

In Xhosa they began saying. "Praise the ancestors."

"Wake up, T'Challa." Nakia said. "Wake up."

It was a tense moment as they stayed still, waiting for…something to happen. Izzy pulled her cloak tighter around herself to ward off the cold.

Suddenly, T'Challa came up out of the snow, gasping for air. His wounds healed.

Ramonda, Nakia, And Shuri surrounded him. Ross looked surprised and M'Baku nodded. Izzy smiled at him with tears in her eyes.

T'Challa, shivering, smiled as he looked around. "Do you have a blanket?" He asked.

Shuri smiled and nodded, reaching for one.

Once they were back inside the main throne room from earlier, they filled T'Challa in on what he had missed. "Killmonger has the full support of our military." Nakia said. "And he burned the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb."

"Of course, he did." Ross said. "That's what he was trained to do. His unit used to work with the CIA to destabilize foreign countries. They would always strike at transitions of power...like an election year, or the death of a monarch. You get control of government, the military..."

"Our resources." T'Challa finished.

"Right." Ross replied.

T'Challa looked up. "The Great Mound." He said.

"Our vibranium." Shuri said. "All of my designs."

"He will send our weapons all over the world." T'Challa said. He looked at Nakia. "You must get them out of Wakanda safely."

"What?" Ramonda exclaimed.

"What about you?" Shuri asked.

T'Challa looked resolute. "The challenge will have to continue."

"T'Challa, we will not leave Wakanda." Ramonda said.

"It is my duty to keep you safe." T'Challa replies to his mother.

"If he gets control of our technology, nowhere will be safe." Shuri said standing. She produced the Black Panther necklace. T'Challa chuckled softly and she put it around his neck. "The Black Panther lives. And when he fights for the fate of Wakanda...I will be right there beside him.

"As will I." Nakia said.

"Me too." Izzy said looking up. T'Challa looked at her and she shrugged. "Wakanda is your responsibility, the rest of the world is kind of mine, so…"

T'Challa nodded to her.

"I'm in, too." Ross said. They looked at him and he shrugged with a wry smile. "What? You're gonna need all the help you can get."

Izzy smiled at him.

M'Baku yawned loudly breaking the moment. "Are you done?" He said when they looked at him. "Are you done?"

* * *

 **"Are you done?" Lol had to end the chapter on that. It's my favorite line from the movie!**


	74. Chapter 74

**One more chapter to go and we start Infinity Wars! I thought having Shuri and Izzy come up with something together would be really cool, especially cause we see such a cool nanite suit for Iron Man in Infinity Wars.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy stood beside T'Challa quietly getting ready for the battle as they waited to hear from Shuri that she, Nakia, and Ross were in position.

 _~ "How do you want to do this?" Izzy asked T'Challa when he joined them after speaking with M'Baku alone. M'Baku wasn't willing to help with his army but Ramonda would remain behind for safety._

 _"We need to stop the jets from leaving Wakandan territory." T'Challa said._

 _Shuri looked up "If we can get to my lab, I can remotely activate the Royal Talon." She said._

 _"We'll need to keep them contained in the meantime." Nakia said._

 _"I guess that's me." Izzy said with a shrug and Shuri grinned in excitement._

 _T'Challa frowned in confusion._

 _"Well, out of the two of us which one can fly?" Izzy asked._

 _Ross frowned. "I thought your suit was being tracked." He asked._

 _Izzy glanced at him. "I'm just going to have to trust you to keep this quiet." She replied. ~_

As they got confirmation, T'Challa looked at her. "Are you ready?" He asked.

Izzy grinned feeling a familiar sensation go down her spine. "Let's do this." She said. As she spoke her necklace activated, the nanites spreading to encase her in a new suit.

T'Challa activated his own suit and they moved out.

One of the planes were already in the air.

"Go." T'Challa instructed.

Izzy shot up into the air firing a repulsor shot as she went through the plane. "Whoa!" Izzy said as she went up much higher and faster than she intended. This suit really had power.

She could see Killmonger was staring at the wreckage as T'Challa climbed over it with easy, the fire creating a cool image around his suit.

"N'Jadaka!" T'Challa called.

"Wassup?" Killmonger said casually.

T'Challa continued forward. "I never yielded! And as you can see, I am not dead!" He said.

"All that challenge shit is over with." Killmonger said. "I'm the king now." He turned back to the Wakandans standing behind him. "Get those planes in the air! Carry out the mission!"

"Shuri now." T'Challa said into the comms.

"Copy that." Shuri replied.

Izzy saw another plane prepping for takeoff, but a lot of soldiers were running at T'Challa now. "Do you want some help?" She asked.

"Just focus on the planes." T'Challa said. "I can handle this."

The new plane seemed intent to go after T'Challa but didn't see Izzy come in and take out the engine causing it to spiral out. Most of the Dora Milaje came to T'Challa's aid while four, including Okoye remained to fight Killmonger.

Izzy spotter it too late as Killmonger hurled one of their sonic cannon spears at her before engaging the Dora. It hit dead on and knocked her out of the sky. Losing the air from her lungs for a moment, the nanites reorganized to bring her suit back to normal again. She activated the thrusters before she hit the ground.

"Isabel?" T'Challa said.

"All good." She replied quickly.

She saw a man, who T'Challa called W'Kabi, blow on a horn. She waited for a tense second to see what was going to happen and to the last minute of her life she wouldn't have predicted what happened.

"You have militarized rhinos?" She asked seeing the large and powerful beasts crash through the battle field.

Shuri and Nakia got control of the plane for Ross to fly. It was just in time as a half dozen planes carrying weapons took off.

"Go!" Shuri instructed Ross. "We can't let those weapons get beyond Wakanda"

"All right, I'm on it." Ross said.

Izzy flew in after him. "Wanna take half?" She asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Ross replied.

Once they engaged the group, the pilots split up.

"Right or left?" Izzy asked.

"Lady's choice." Ross replied.

Izzy grinned and raced after the ones that split left. The pilots were aware of her in the suit now, so they were being more creative in their flight patterns. They were definitely better than the pilots she had come across so far.

Izzy yelped as she had to nose dive to avoid being shot out of the air again. She took out one but the other two were not going down without a fight.

"Shit." Ross said suddenly. "What the hell was that?"

Izzy heard an automated voice say, "The lab is under attack."

"What? Where?" Ross said.

"Deactivating hologram." The auto voice said.

Shuri was listening as well. "Ross, you have to get out of there, now!" She said.

Izzy felt a flash of worry. She wasn't going to be able to get all the ships on her own. She didn't want Ross to die though. "Get out Ross, I can take care of these guys." She said.

"How long have I got?" Ross asked.

"Glass integrity is at 50%." The automated voice replied.

There was a brief pause. "Put me back in." Ross said.

"Ross!" Shuri yelled.

"Just hang on." Izzy called as she took out one of her last two. "I'm close to the lab, I have one more and I'll come take out the one aiming at you. You have your last ones?"

"I got 'em." Ross replied.

The last pilot was not going to make it easy. She chased him a lot longer than she'd like to admit.

"Glass integrity is at 15%." The update came in.

Izzy grit her teeth in frustration.

"Shit!" Ross said. "Hey, Shuri! The last cargo ship is almost at the border...but they got me trapped with some kind of cables."

"Make an X with your arms!" Shuri said. "Now break it!"

Izzy gave a boost of power as she lined up with the last ship and just crashed through it like a wrecking ball before heading to the mountain. Little did she know Ross had the same idea.

"Yes! We did it!" Ross said.

Izzy dove down through the opening in the mountain, firing at the ship that was firing at the lab. She brought it down and hovered at the glass giving Ross a thumbs up. Ross nodded his thanks.

"Great!" Shuri said. "Now get out of there!"

The Jabari joined the battle after all and tipped the scales in their favor. T'Challa was able to beat Killmonger though he didn't talk about what happened after the battle. They had won, though it was a hard-fought victory for Wakanda.

 **In the interest of time...**

Izzy paused in the doorway seeing T'Challa working on something at his desk. She knocked on the doorframe, drawing his attention. "Okoye said you wanted to see me?" She said when he looked up.

"Please." He said motioning to the chair in front of the desk.

Walking over, she sat down, tucking one foot beneath her.

"You and Agent Ross are returning to America in the morning." T'Challa started. Izzy nodded. "Wakanda owes you a debt for what you did…"

Izzy shook her head. "No, you don't." She said. "Seriously, you kept a huge chunk of my family safe when the world was after them. This was the least I could do."

T'Challa looked thoughtful for a moment. "There was something else." Izzy tilted her head to the side curious. "I wanted you to be the first outsider to know about an announcement that is going to be made in the United Nations in Vienna in one month's time." He said, his tone light at the word _outsider_.

Izzy couldn't contain a radiant smile as she listened to T'Challa's plans. "That's incredible, T'Challa." She said. "I can't wait."

"I will expect to see you there." He said with a smile.

"Count on it." Izzy said standing up. She paused as she reached the doorway. "Oh yeah." She turned and walked back, pulling out her phone. She brought up a hologram file. "I was able to recreate that data. I think you'll find it insightful."

T'Challa looked at the information. "Thank you, Isabel."

Izzy nodded. "I'll see you in Vienna."

* * *

 **Really quick, I didn't want to write out the whole scene with T'Challa and Killmonger. It was so beautifully done and it was such an intimate moment that I'm not going to stick anything else in there.**


	75. Chapter 75

**Wrapping up Black Panther and wrapping up one other thing as well. I will have another note at the end talking about the other thing. We are starting Infinity War next! (Oh boy)... So I'm probably going to release one chapter a week leading up to Endgame because how I write is going to depend on how that movie turns out as well. I'm hoping if the storylines work out, after Endgame I will continue on with Spider-Man: Far From Home as well but I can't write that until I've seen it so there may be some long gaps between when I update as movies come out and if I decide they can fit in the story.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy leaned against the railing looking down over the main floor of the UN building. She had gotten to Vienna a couple hours ago and had drug her feet a little coming to the building, still uneasy here. There were still plenty of people that made her feel uneasy. She eyed Secretary Ross, who was talking with the French UN Ambassador. With a sigh, she unconsciously smoother her hands over her skirt before tugging her blazer jacket tighter around herself, a nervous habit she had developed when she felt threatened.

"Miss. Stark."

Izzy turned towards the voice and smiled. "Good morning Agent Ross." She said warmly, loosening her hold on her jacket.

He had proven to be very trustworthy. Ross had innumerable chances since they left Wakanda to bring a shitstorm down on her head, but he had kept quiet about her nanite suit and he kept his suspicions to himself about what she knew about Steve and the others.

"Good morning." He returned, clutching his coffee.

They moved away from growing crowd upstairs to get a better view of the lobby.

"I hope you weren't in too much trouble when it came to Klaue." Izzy said as they walked.

"It's part of the job when missions go south." Ross said. "Nothing I can't handle. So, what's your take on this whole thing?"

Izzy smiled. "I like it." She said. "Shuri and I are already working on collaborative projects combining the vibranium and Stark Reactors. The prototypes are really promising."

As they spoke, they noticed the arrival they were waiting for. T'Challa entered the main lobby hand in hand with Nakia, both flanked by Okoye and Ayo, another Dora Milaje. Ross and Izzy walked down to meet them.

"Agent Ross, Miss. Stark." T'Challa greeted as they shook hands.

"Your highness." Ross said. "Okoye, Ayo, Nakia."

T'Challa looked at the three women. "Please give us a second." He requested.

Ross cleared his throat as they moved away. "Listen, it's not my place to say, but I really don't think you should do this." He said honestly. "What you guys have, it's gonna scare a lot of people in that room. They're gonna come after you."

Izzy looked at T'Challa, who didn't seem phased.

"Yes." T'Challa replied simply. "But I will no longer rule out of fear. Not ours or anyone else's."

"Goddammit." Ross muttered, turning away for a second. "I figured you'd say that. Well okay, I'll do my best to keep them off your back."

Izzy smiled. Agent Ross really was a good guy.

"I will hold you too that Everett." T'Challa replied.

"I'll see you in there." Ross said.

Izzy followed T'Challa to the main room only separating to take up a position near the back of the room. Cameras flashed and people talked in confused voices as T'Challa walked up to the front of the room, standing behind the podium.

"My name is King T'Challa...son of King T'Chaka." He began. "I am the sovereign ruler of the nation of Wakanda. And for the first time in our history...we will be sharing our knowledge and resources...with the outside world." There was a growing whisper among the crowds as he spoke. "Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows. We cannot. We must not. We will work to be an example of how we...as brothers and sisters on this earth...should treat each other. Now, more than ever..." T'Challa looked out at the crowds, his voice projecting through the room to capture everyone's attention. "The illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth. More connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis...the wise build bridges...while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way...to look after one another... as if we were one, single tribe."

"With all due respect, King T'Challa..." Someone spoke up. "What can a nation of farmers have to offer the rest of the world?"

Izzy grinned as she saw the look on T'Challa's face. This was going to be fun.

 **Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—Carnival**

Izzy smiled as she walked through the crowded streets. Carnival was a bit of a sensory overload, especially if you made it to the right block party. But it was a great place to disappear if you needed to or meet someone in secret.

As far as anyone knew, Izzy had met Johnny and Sue in Rio for Carnival to belatedly celebrate her birthday. It wasn't a lie and there were dozens of tabloids that had pictures of her partying with her friends, some printing nicer headlines than others. She just wasn't entirely here for that.

Johnny and Sue left this morning to head home. She had told them she wasn't leaving until the morning, which was true. The brilliant part of her Avengers status was not really needing to bring security anymore. Though Happy wasn't pleased with her going to Rio without a bodyguard, Tony had actually argued that she was regularly globetrotting without security. Plus, Tony felt better with her having the nanite suit now as well.

Izzy wove between partygoers, enjoying the beat of the music. There was a storm heading in but it just added to the electric current moving around them. This was one of the larger block parties that went well into the night. It was easily high six figures when it came to the body count. She only needed to find one.

As she moved around a group, she felt someone pass next to her and she felt a familiar electric current go down her spine. She saw a flash of white curls and a flirty smile before strong arms picked her up and she felt a weightlessness from the speed that Pietro ran at. She had a brief second to marvel at the fact that he had such better control over his speed that he could go through the crowd without disrupting hardly anything. Before she realized it, she was standing at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue that towered over Rio. It was closed thankfully so no one was around.

Izzy had a second to steady herself as Pietro set her on her feet before he kissed her gently, drawing her close. She returned the sweet kiss before she stepped back.

Looking around, she marveled at the sight of Rio, lit up for Carnival below them.

"Did you mean to bring us this far out of the city?" She asked looking up at him, smiling.

Pietro shrugged. "I figured it was better to put some distance between us and the agents that were looking for you." He said.

Izzy's heart stopped and her smile instantly vanished. "What agents?" She asked.

"They were at the edge of the party, just arriving, when I got to you." Pietro said. He smiled confidently. "Don't worry, they didn't see either of us."

"No, you can't be certain." She said. "Pietro this is bad. You need to get out of here."

"You're being paranoid." He said rubbing her arms before taking her hands to pull her close. "I promise we're fine."

As Izzy took in the unconcerned look in his eyes, she felt a cold feeling hit her like a crashing wave. "We can't keep doing this." She in barely a whisper stepping back from him.

Pietro frowned and took a step towards her. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"We've been too reckless." She said. "Not just now, but Korea, all the times in between. This has to stop or one day we're going to get caught and they're gonna take you away."

Pietro reached for her, but she stepped back again.

"I didn't even notice the agents trailing me because I was too busy looking for you." Izzy said. "If they tag you, it could lead them back to the others as well. We're putting everyone in danger. We're putting your sister in danger."

"Zee, they aren't going to catch me." Pietro said firmly stepping forward to quickly catch her arms before she could move away again.

"You can't promise that." Izzy replied trying to squirm out of his hold. "This has to end."

They jumped as they heard a rumble of thunder.

"What are you saying?" He asked, accent becoming a little more prominent as his voice lowered.

"We can't see each other anymore." She said on the verge of tears. "No more meetings, nothing. This ends here."

Pietro's eyes narrowed. "Is that really what you want?" He asked. Her head dropped as tears started. "Look at me and tell me that is what you want."

Izzy whimpered quietly but couldn't meet his gaze.

"Isabel!" His fingers tightened on her arms.

"No, it isn't what I want!" She cried looking up, tears streaming down her face. "I just don't want to see you behind bars with a shock collar again!" She sobbed as his fingers released her and he looked away, jaw clenched. "We can't—I can't—watch that happen."

Reaching up, Izzy gently cupped his face in her hands and turned him to look at her. His blue eyes were stormy, and he had a pained expression. He leaned into her touch for a second never breaking eye contact.

"You need to go." She said trying to memorize every feature.

The sky opened with a bang and the rain began to pour, soaking them, as Pietro pulled her into a searing kiss that took her breath away. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers as they fought for air.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him. "Run." She whispered.

With one last brief kiss, he disappeared, leaving her alone. She broke down sobbing, dropping to her knees as the rain continued to fall.

* * *

 **So, I know the crying in the rain is a bit cheesy, but I like the visual. Izzy may love him. Who knows? They haven't had enough time to explore it, but she loves the Avengers as her family and she'll put their safety before her happiness. I liked writing the two but at least while they are on the run it made sense to break them up.**


	76. Chapter 76

**Hi, I wasn't going to release this until next week but figured why not. The beginning of Infinity War! I'm terrified but I was happy to see the confirmation of some of the characters that survived the snap made by Disney a few days ago. Here we go guys! Enjoy!**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"Izzy are you getting ready?" Pepper called from the other side of the bedroom door.

"Almost done!" Izzy called as she dropped to her knees to look under her bed for her running shoes. She couldn't see so she blindly reached around until her hand came in to contact with something that cut her finger.

Frowning, she pulled the offending item out to see a picture. Considering everything in the New York penthouse was digital for the most part, finding a picture was rare. The instant she looked at it though, she froze.

From left to right, Izzy, Pietro, and Wanda was standing together. Cooper Barton was standing between and in front of Wanda and Pietro, Lila Barton was in Pietro's arms, one arm slung around his shoulders and the other around Izzy's, and baby Nathanial Barton giggling in Izzy's arms as they all faced the camera.

 _~ "C'mon! You guys are being so slow!"_

 _"We're coming Li!" Izzy laughed at Lila who was pouting as she waited for everyone to catch up._

 _The six-year-old was very much her father's daughter with her high energy and precocious personality traits that were all Clint._

 _To celebrate the Twins' first Christmas on the team, and to meet the newest little addition to the family, they had all come to the Barton family farm. While the adults were at the farm house, Lila had convinced Cooper, Izzy, and the Twins to walk the half mile to the small frozen lake to go ice skating._

 _At the 'slow' comment, Pietro shot forward to catch the little girl off guard, Lila squealing in delight as Pietro lifted her up into the air, setting her on one shoulder. Clint's kids had taken to the Twins right away, but they had their favorites, Cooper and Wanda being perfectly content with calm while Pietro and Lila were a match of craziness._

 _The finally reached their destination and Izzy smiled as she took in the picturesque scene. ~_

"Kid, come on or we'll leave without you!" Tony now called through the door, startling her from her thoughts.

"I can't find my shoes!" Izzy called back as she hurriedly stuffed the picture in a book.

"Because they're out here." Tony called back.

Rolling her eyes, Izzy walked out and saw, her shoes were indeed sitting out in the living room where she had kicked them off last time. Quickly lacing them up, Izzy followed Pepper and Tony out as they went for a run through Central Park.

"You know, Izzy…" Pepper said as the two stretched, waiting for Tony to get done talking with Happy.

Izzy looked at Pepper warily. "The last time you used that tone, you wanted to set me up on a date." She said.

"Well, there is this really nice young man who works in R&D." Pepper said. At the younger woman's frown, Pepper hurried to explain. "Come on, his name is Bobby Drake, he's really sweet, smart."

Izzy smiled, rolling her eyes. "I appreciate it Pep, I do." Izzy said grabbing her water bottle. "But I'm just not interested in dating anyone right now. Besides, I know Bobby, and I am pretty sure that I'm not his type."

Even though Tony and Pepper had been able to tell she was different after coming back from Rio, she swore to them that she was fine. She couldn't tell them she had seen Pietro without implicating them anyways. That had been over a year ago and it felt like a lifetime.

"What about Johnny?" Pepper asked suddenly causing Izzy to choke on her water.

"What about him?" Izzy asked between coughs.

Pepper shrugged. "You guys have been such good friends for so long. Have you ever thought about asking him on a date?" She asked.

Izzy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose for a second. She sighed internally and decided to spill a secret. "Johnny and I did date." She admitted.

Now it was Pepper's turn for surprise. "What? When?" She asked.

"When we were fifteen." Izzy said. "For a month. It was before Ultron."

"How come you never said anything?" Pepper asked.

"Because we hated each other the entire time." Izzy said with a shrug. "He and I are better as friends."

Tony picked that moment to come over. "Who is better as your friend?" He asked.

Izzy laughed easily. "No one to worry about." She said

"No, seriously." Tony said narrowing his eyes. "Are you dating?"

Giving Tony a kiss on the cheek, she smiled patiently. "No. Now come on, let's go." She said.

 **In the Interest of Time...**

"Slow down, slow down." Tony said as they jogged trying to get Pepper's attention. "I'll spell it out for you."

"You're totally rambling." Pepper said.

"No, I'm not." Tony replied.

Pepper slowed down as the three began walking. "You lost me." She said looking at Tony.

Izzy brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and looked at her father who had been trying to explain something to Pepper but wasn't doing a very good job.

"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee." Tony asked.

"Yeah." Pepper said nodding.

"Okay." Tony said. "And then you're like, 'Oh, my God'. There's no bathrooms. What am I gonna do? 'Oh, someone's watching'."

"Right." Pepper interjected. "And then you wake up and in real life you actually have to pee."

"Yes." Tony said smiling.

Pepper was looking at him like he was insane. "Yeah." She said.

"Okay." Tony said.

"Everybody has that." Pepper said.

Izzy was thoroughly confused on where he was going with this.

"Right, that's the point I'm trying to make." Tony said. "Apropos of that, last night I dreamt we had a kid." Izzy and Pepper both looked at him in surprise. "It was so real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?"

"Right…" Pepper said in disbelief.

"Morgan." Izzy supplied helpfully.

"Morgan!" Tony said.

Pepper looked amused. "So, you woke up..."

"Naturally." Tony said.

"...and thought that we were..."

"Expecting." Tony said.

"Yeah." Pepper said smiling.

Tony looked hopeful. "Yes?"

"No." Pepper replied flatly.

"Please?" Tony said. "Maybe?"

Pepper smiled patiently. "We don't even have a wedding date yet." She said.

Tony looked confused. "You set August 27th…" He said.

"That's the decoy date." Pepper said for probably the thousandth time.

"So, we have to get married before that date?" Tony asked.

"Yes—No, after that date." Pepper said.

Izzy was laughing at this point as Happy pulled up in a golf cart.

"You know you two should just elope." Happy said as they turned to him. "Because this media circus that is going on is driving me crazy."

"Okay." Tony nodded.

"This is me on edge!" Happy said looking a little out of his mind.

"I'm sorry." Tony said knowing not to prod him at this point.

Izzy looked at him a little worried about his blood pressure.

"Because I'm trying to keep all the pictures out of the paper and off the internet, so your wedding isn't ruined." Happy continued on

Figuring it wouldn't be helpful at this point, Izzy didn't mention that she could get rid of the pictures online.

"No one's working harder than you." Tony said in a placating tone.

"Do you remember that TMZ kid you had me trade paint with on the FDR drive?" Happy said. "Well I got a case against me now."

"That's my fault?" Tony asked.

"Yes, it's your fault." Happy said. "Lose 'em Hap. Lose 'em Hap. Like _the_ _Godfather_. It's really funny. Now I gotta go to court."

"That's why we want you to get out of the car and just de-stress." Tony said a little worried as well. "Just walk with us."

Happy looked over. "Burt! I see you Burt!" They followed his gaze to see a paparazzo taking pictures behind a bush. Happy looked at Tony. "Hold on." He put the golf cart in gear and started driving away. "Burt, you son of a bitch! Come here Burt! Come here!" The paparazzo took off running, carrying his camera and bag.

Izzy stared after him with wide eyes. That had been both hilarious and terrifying.

"Man, we gotta get him a girlfriend." Tony said watching him drive off. He turned to Pepper. "You know anyone? Anyone come to mind who would maybe…" Pepper was giving him a look. "What?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"I had a dream about it." Tony protested going back to the original topic. "It was so real."

Izzy smiled and shook her head.

"First off, we have a kid." Pepper said pointing at Izzy. "Second, if you wanted to have another kid...you wouldn't have done that." She untied the sleeves of Tony's jacket that he had around his shoulders and tapped on the glowing piece in his chest.

Tony paused. "I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing." He said. "It's just a housing unit for nanoparticles."

Izzy, who was standing behind Pepper made a slashing motion with her hand indicating he should stop.

"You're not helping your case, okay?" Pepper said.

"No, this is detachable." Tony said. "It's not a..."

Pepper shook her head. "You don't need that." She said firmly.

"I know, I had the surgery." Tony said. "I'm just trying to protect us... and future usses and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet. Instead of, you know..."

"Shirts." Pepper said with a soft smile.

Tony smiled back. "You know me so well."

"God." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"You finish all my sentences." Tony said.

"You should have shirts in your closet." Pepper said.

Tony paused and nodded. "Yeah." He said. "You know what there should be? No more surprises. We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight. Show off this Harry Winston." Pepper giggled. "Right? And we should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you."

"Yes." Pepper said.

"I will." Tony said and kissed Pepper. "Thank you."

Izzy smiled as she watched them, but it faded quickly as she saw a very familiar orange portal forming in close proximity to where they stood.

"Tony Stark." A commanding voice said as they turned to face the speaker. "I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me." Tony and Pepper were staring at him in shock. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."

"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets to something?" Tony asked.

Izzy looked at Tony. "No, dad this is the neurosurgeon I worked with a while ago." She said. "Remember I told you he had discovered something…"

"We need your help." Strange said without giving her the chance to explain further. "It's not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."

"And who's "we"?" Tony asked.

That's when they noticed someone they had not seen in a very long time walk out from behind Strange.

"Hey, Tony." Bruce Banner said quietly.

"Bruce." Tony said in shock.

Bruce looked over. "Isabel, Pepper."

"Hi." Pepper said softly, in shock.

Izzy walked forward, eyes wide, taking in the haunted look on Bruce's face, one she had never seen before. "It's been like three years. Bruce, where have you been?" She asked.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

Without replying, Bruce just wrapped Tony in a hug. Tony held his friend and looked at Pepper, then met Izzy's gaze in confusion.

Izzy reached out to place a hand on Bruce's shoulder and looked at Strange trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

* * *

 **Also, if anyone caught the name drop, no I'm not bringing in the X-Men it was just a fun little Easter egg.**

 **P.S. The next chapter is already written, I'm just not going to release it until at least the 5th of April.**


	77. Chapter 77

**New chapter! Not super long. I'm trying to write ahead while I'm on spring break and I've figured out I'm going to be at right around 7-8 chapters total, most are already done. I will release one every Sunday, starting today. I'm trying to push it right up to Endgame's premier. I'll release the last chapter right after I go see Endgame.**

 **As always, please review :)**

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The last time Izzy had seen Bruce, the team was still together, and their biggest problem was a murderous robot. Now he was back telling them that Thor was dead and there was some crazy being with a God Complex on his way to Earth to kill half of the galaxy.

Staring at the hulk sized hole in the ceiling and stairs of the Sanctum, Izzy felt a sense of dread seeping into her body. And they had just been talking about no more surprises.

"At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing." Wong spoke, hands waving an amazing image into the air as the others watched. "Then...Boom. The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."

Strange took over speaking as an image of each stone cane forward. "Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind." Strange paused for a second moving his hands in front of the amulet around his neck, which opened to reveal a brightly glowing green stone. "And Time."

Izzy stared at the stone for a long moment feeling the power of the stone from where she stood across the room. It was like being near Vision, but it felt different at the same time.

"Tell me his name again." Tony said suddenly, looking up from his position on the couch along the wall. He had been sitting silent with a grim expression up until this point.

"Thanos." Bruce said, the name alone seeming to bring him fear. "He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York, that's him."

Izzy subtly shifted closer to Tony tugging at the sleeves of her sweater.

"This is it." Tony said quietly. He looked up at Bruce. "What's our timeline?"

"No telling." Bruce replied. "He has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe." Tony paced as he listened, stopping to lean against a giant pot looking thing. "If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony..."

"He could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Strange finished.

Tony couldn't resist the jab. "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?" He asked.

"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Strange asked.

Izzy took a step away from the pot.

"Is that what it is?" Tony asked unconcerned. The cloak the was around Strange's shoulders moved of its own volition and slapped Tony's hand that was on the cauldron. Tony turned in surprise, meeting Strange's unflinching expression. "I'm…going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down a garbage disposal?"

"No can do." Strange replied.

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives." Wong explained.

Izzy furrowed her brow in thought.

"And I swore off dairy..." Tony said unconcerned. "But then Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me."

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts." Strange said.

"Not bad." Tony shrugged.

"A bit chalky." Strange was intentionally being confrontational.

Wong shrugged. "A Hunk of Hulk of Burning Fudge is our favorite." He admitted honestly.

"That's a thing?" Bruce asked.

"Whatever." Tony said shaking his head. "Point is, things change."

Strange looked at him sternly. "Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change." He said. "And this stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos."

"Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us." Tony argued back.

Izzy spoke quietly. "Stephen, these stones are too dangerous." She said tugging at her sleeves again.

"Well, if we don't do our jobs." Strange said eyes softening a little as he looked at her, hearing the worry in her voice.

"What is your job exactly?" Tony demanded. "Besides making balloon animals."

Strange's eyes hardened again. "Protecting your reality, douchebag." He said.

Izzy stepped between them, placing a hand on Tony's chest. "Stop it." She said firmly looking between the two, now annoyed.

"Okay, guys." Bruce said into the tense silence. "Could we table this discussion right now? The fact is we have this stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone...and we have to find him now."

Izzy closed her eyes for a second.

"Yeah, that's the thing." Tony said hesitantly crossing his arms.

Bruce frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder." Izzy said looking up. "He's offline."

"What?" Bruce said eyes wide.

"Yeah." Tony said.

Bruce gave him a disbelieving look. "Tony, you lost another super-bot?" He said dismayed.

"I didn't lose him." Tony said indignant moving away. "He's more than that. He's evolving."

"Who could find Vision then?" Strange asked.

Izzy looked at Tony, walking over to him and meeting his gaze. He stared back at her for a second knowing who she was thinking of.

"Shit." Tony muttered. Louder, he said. "Probably Steve Rogers."

"Oh, great." Strange said flatly.

"Maybe." Tony said. "But..." He sighed.

Izzy squeezed his arm briefly.

"Call him." Bruce said not seeing the problem.

"It's not that easy." Tony said turning back. At Bruce's confused expression he scoffed. "God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?"

"No." Bruce said still confused.

"The Avengers broke up." Tony said bluntly. "We're toast."

"Broke up?" Bruce said. "Like a band? Like... Like the Beatles?"

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself not able to meet Bruce's gaze. She could feel Strange and Wong staring at them as well.

"Cap and I fell out hard." Tony said carefully. "We're not on speaking terms."

"Tony, listen to me." Bruce said. "Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."

Tony met his gaze for a moment before looking away. As he turned, Izzy saw Strange giving Tony an appraising look.

Izzy moved away from the group with Tony as he pulled out the phone that Steve had sent him. She hadn't been aware that he carried it with him regularly. As he opened it, it went to the one number that was saved in it, showing the name Steve Rogers. She was wondering now how often he stared at that number.

"Flip phone." Tony muttered in distaste, shaking his head.

As he was deciding whether to call or not, they heard a distant rumbling noise coming from outside. Izzy met Tony's gaze and they looked around, trying to decide where it was coming from.

Looking back at the other three, Tony frowned. "Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would ya?" He asked cautiously.

Izzy noticed it, a small lock of hair across Strange's forehead was moving as if a breeze was moving it.

"Not at the moment, no." Strange said slowly.

They all looked up at the hole in the ceiling, seeing a shadow moving over the building. Faint screams drew their eyes to look at the front door.

Tony was the first to move forward, Izzy following closely behind him. They walked out, quickly dodging civilians as they ran by screaming. Heading to the left, against the flow of people, they could see debris flying by at the intersection.

A woman fell as they walked. "You okay?" Tony asked helping her up. A car crashed into a light pole right next to them. "Help him!" Tony called back. "Banner! Wong! Look alive!"

"Go, go! We got it!" Wong called to them as he and Bruce rushed to help the driver.

Izzy moved ahead, heading towards the corner, the wind starting to pull at her hair as she got closer.

"FRIDAY, what am I looking at?" Tony asked as he caught up to her, motioning for her to stay close.

"Not sure." FRIDAY replied to them. "I'm working on it."

"Hey!" Tony called back to Strange, who was following them. He had to raise his voice over the loud roar of wind as they got closer to the intersection. "You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"

"Might wanna use it." Strange said as he brought up gold magic bands around his arms.

Stopping at the corner, they waited as a large flag that had been ripped off some building flew by. Tony walked out, Izzy at his side and Strange coming up behind them, his cloak billowing in the wind. They all looked up to see a massive space ship hovering above the city.


	78. Chapter 78

**Because I love you all (and I am impatient) have another chapter! Note is at the end this time.**

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"FRIDAY, evac anyone south of 43rd Street." Tony said as they walked out onto the street, looking up at the space ship floating above them. "Notify first responders."

"Will do." The AI replied.

Izzy squinted, her glasses barely blocking the dust that the wind was kicking up. Strange, with a swirling motion of his hands used his magic to push the dust and wind away causing the air to still once again. She looked back at him with wide eyes, he winked with a smirk, and she grinned, turning back to the ship.

As they walked down the street, a beam of light came down revealing two figures. One, tall, slender, and grey skinned, the other large, muscled and covered in armor carrying a scary looking scythe weapon.

Izzy tilted her head slightly as she stopped beside Tony, feeling a chill move down her spine. The slender one gave her the creeps more than the 'roid monster did.

"Hear me and rejoice." The slender one said in a calm voice, silky like poison. "You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful...that your meaningless lives are now contributing..."

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today." Tony interrupted the being, not in the mood for a speech. "You better pack it up and get outta here."

The being was not amused. "Stonekeeper." He addressed Strange, who narrowed his eyes cautiously. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not." Strange said, stepping forward alongside Izzy, activating those magic rings around his arms again, Wong following suit. "I speak for myself. You're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"He means get lost, Squidward." Tony said.

"He exhausts me." The slender being said to the bigger one, which only grunted in some alien language. "Bring me the stone."

"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony asked as they saw the bigger alien raise the scythe and walk forward.

"Mmm, no, not really." Bruce said with a resigned tone. "But when do I ever get what I want?"

Tony smirked. "That's right." He said anticipating the Hulk fighting the massive alien.

Bruce closed his eyes and strained, trying to bring out the Hulk. "Okay. Push!" He muttered.

"It's been a while." Tony said not paying attention, looking at the alien. "It's gonna be good to have you, buddy."

"Okay. Shh." Bruce said. "Let me just... I need to concentrate here for a second. Come on, come on, man."

Izzy and Tony both turned to look at him in confusion.

"Where's your guy?" Tony asked.

"I don't know." Bruce said. "We've sorta been having a thing."

Izzy raised an eye brow. "A thing?" She asked. "What kind of thing?"

"It's no time for a thing." Tony said as the big alien got closer.

"I know." Bruce said clearly frustrated.

Tony pointed at said alien. "That's the thing right there." He said. "Let's go." It wasn't working, even Strange and Wong we're taking notice. Tony looked at Bruce and said under his breath. "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"Tony, I'm sorry." Bruce said sounding exhausted. "Either I can't, or he won't."

"It's okay." Tony said gently and Izzy reached over to pat his shoulder with a kind smile. "Hey, stand down. Keep an eye on him." He said to Wong, who nodded. "Thank you."

"I have him." Wong said standing defensively.

"Damn it." Bruce said, frustrated with himself and his other half.

Tony looked to his right. "You ready?" He asked.

"Always." Izzy grinned.

Tony activated the housing unit in his chest while Izzy activated the choker necklace and the wrist cuffs that she had on each arm. As they removed their respective sunglasses, the nanites spread out, encasing them in the newest versions of their suits.

The alien had reached full speed, raising the scythe up high. Tony stepped forward, nanites morphing to create a shield over his right arm, blocking the weapon and Izzy landing a hard punch to the creature's jaw, knocking him back. Four nanite pieces detached from the back of Tony's suit and opened as he raised his hands firing a massive concentrated repulsor beam at the alien, sending him flying back.

Before the big alien could collide with the smaller one, the grey alien raised a hand and smoothly made a swiping motion, the bigger one being knocked aside by some magic. The big alien crashed into a car and didn't move for a moment.

"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asked with a shocked expression causing Tony and Izzy to turn.

"It's nanotech." Tony said. "You like it? A little something..."

He was cut off as a column dirt and metal came out of the ground, sending Tony up into the air and knocking Izzy, who caught half of it, to the right. She crashed through the second floor of a building.

"Son of a—" Izzy muttered getting up.

The grey alien ripped up all the trees that lined the street and launched them like missiles at the three left on the ground. Wong stepped forward and created a massive shield to block the attack.

As Wong did this, Strange turned to Bruce. "Doctor Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." He opened up a portal under Bruce's feet and dropped him into a small park nearby.

As Strange and Wong turned to face the grey alien, who appeared to be a sorcerer of some kind, Tony came in and sent another blast at it as Izzy came in, kicking a car into the bigger alien to knock it off its feet again.

"Gotta get that stone outta here, now." Tony said looking back at Strange.

"It stays with me." Strange said.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Exactly. Bye." She said as she and Tony flew towards the two aliens.

The bigger one had recovered and threw a claw thing on a chain at them. Izzy managed to dodge it, but it got Tony, sending him through two buildings, crashing into the park that Bruce was at.

Izzy raised a hand to fire at the grey alien, but he raised a hand, halting her as if she had hit a wall. She gasped as she felt an invisible force constrict around her like she was going to be crushed. However, the alien had no interest in her as he laid eyes on Strange and the medallion that held the time stone. He threw her to the side with enough force that she ended up in the park as well, crashing through a tree that almost fell on top of Bruce.

"Hammer." Tony called and Izzy had a fraction of a second to get Bruce out of the way before the big alien's weapon could hit him.

Tony engaged the alien, firing at him, but the alien raised a shield that reflected the blast back.

"Come on, Hulk." Bruce said. "What are you doing to me?" He smacked himself in the face, three times. "Come out, come out!" Suddenly, his face turned green and the Hulk's head seemed to appear for a moment shouting "No!" before going back to Bruce, causing him to collapse. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

Izzy didn't have a moment to analyze what just happened, Tony needed her help. "Stay back Bruce." Izzy said. "We got it."

The alien knocked Tony down and was about to bring the massive weapon on him, but something caught it before it could connect.

"Hey, man." Peter said peeking out from behind the weapon in his Spider-Man suit. He looked back. "What's up, Mr. Stark?"

Izzy had never been happier to see him in her life.

"Kid, where'd you come from?" Tony asked.

"A field trip to MoMA—" Peter was cut off as the alien threw him towards the large fountain nearby. "Uh, what is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?" He asked bouncing back quickly, grabbing a car with his webs and flinging it at the big alien.

"Uh, he's from space." Tony said giving the cliff notes version. "He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard."

"Not one Harry Potter reference!" Izzy ordered as she kicked the alien in the back, knowing it was on the tip of Peter's tongue.

As Tony and Izzy concentrated their attack on the alien, Peter helping where he could, a red blur shot by. Izzy had a second to recognize that it was the Cloak of Levitation trying to get Strange to safety. Strange was unconscious.

"Kid, that's the wizard." Tony said. "Get on it."

"On it!" Peter said swinging off on his webs.

Izzy dodged another attack from the giant alien when Tony instructed her. "You too." He said. She paused. "Go, I've got this. We can't let them get ahold of that stone."

"Knock this guy's ugly ass back to orbit." Izzy said before flying off after Peter.

She came around a corner to see the grey alien flying along, sending a billboard into Peter as he was catching up.

"Not cool." Peter muttered but continued on.

Izzy sent a charged blast into the back of the grey alien, knocking him aside as he brought down a series of light poles. The alien used his powers to launch her down into the pavement, creating a big dent in the concrete. He disappeared from sight before Izzy could recover and hit him again. The cloak caught on one of the poles and flung Strange forward heading right towards the pavement.

"Gotcha!" Peter said catching Strange with a web just in time. However, as he was swinging around, he got caught in some sort of tractor beam from the ship. "Wait! Uh, Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up."

Izzy shot up after Peter as the ship headed into the upper atmosphere.

"Hang on, kid." Tony called over comms. "Give us a little juice FRIDAY."

Rearranging the nanites, they got an extra rocket boost towards the ship quickly reaching towards space. Izzy had almost reached Peter. "FRIDAY, unlock 17:A." She called.

"Pete, you gotta let go." Tony said. "We're gonna catch you."

"But you said save the wizard!" Peter shouted back in protest, clinging to the outside of the ship. He was gasping for air. He pulled his mask off. "I can't breathe."

"We're too high up." Izzy called, eyes focused on him, panic constricting her chest as she watched her friend. "You're running out of air."

"Yeah. That makes sense." Peter said before he lost consciousness and fell. Izzy tried to grab him but barely missed, shooting up too far and too fast.

She used a high-powered magnet to attach to the side of the ship and looked down.

Thankfully, the item she had requested had reached them, catching Peter and the nanites closing around him to reveal a brand-new suit. Peter came to, now able to breathe in this new suit and caught onto the side of the ship.

"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!" Peter said as Tony came up in front of him.

"Happy trails, kid." Tony said. "Friday, send him home."

"Yep." The AI replied.

The parachute opened on his suit. "Oh, come on!" Peter was cut off as he was yank away, out of sight.

Tony flew up and got to Izzy's side. Using his own magnet to hold on, they used a laser cutter in their wrists to create a hole big enough for them to get through.

"Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts." FRIDAY said patching the call in to both of them.

"Tony? Isabel? Oh, my God." Pepper said sounding beyond worried. "Are you both all right? What's going on?"

Izzy's heart constricted. This was exactly what they had been afraid of.

"Yeah, we're fine." Tony said glancing at Izzy as their helmets retracted. "I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res."

"Why?" Pepper asked.

"Just 'cause we probably won't make it back for a while." Tony replied.

"Tell me you're not on that ship." Pepper demanded.

Izzy let out a shaky breath. "Yeah." She said quietly.

Pepper sounded close to tears. "God, no, please tell me you're not on the ship." She said.

Tony took a deep breath. "Honey, I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

"Come back here, Tony." Pepper said. "I swear to God."

"Pep." Tony said as the call started to sound distorted.

"Come back here right now." Pepper was sounding further and further away. "Come back."

"Boss, we're losing her." FRIDAY said.

"I'm going too—" The signal was lost, cutting off whatever Pepper was about to say next.

Izzy looked at Tony with a somber expression. There was no turning back from this now.

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 **Y'all I am not handling things well after that last trailer drop on Tuesday! So, I've had Tony and Izzy separated a lot over the last couple movies and I really wasn't going to do it on this one. I always knew that I would have Izzy going into space, I have a very specific scene that I want to play out that I think will work well. Plus, I really wanna have her interact with the Guardians though I wish Rocket was going to be with them.**

 **As always, please review :)**


	79. Chapter 79

**New chapter! Tony Stark and Dr. Strange always seemed like two halves of a brain to me. Both highly intelligent but one super serious and the other not so much. Izzy would know how to speak to both those sides so it makes sense to me that she and Strange would be friends. Guardians are going to be introduced in the next chapter! Yay!**

 **As always, please review :)**

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Splitting up, it didn't take long for them to locate the main area of the ship where Dr. Strange was being held. Izzy stood on a platform high above where the grey alien stood with Strange, listening to the conversation while she waited for Tony to reach her position.

"In all the time I've served Thanos...I have never failed him." The alien said as he stood in front of Strange, who was suspended in the air by some magic with dozens of big, long crystallized needle-looking things pointed at him preventing any movement. "If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan...with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person...there would be judgment." As he spoke in that same calm, deadly voice, one of the needle things started to pierce into the skin on Strange's cheek, causing pain. "Give me...the stone."

Tony had reached her position and they peered over the edge, watching the scene below and trying to figure out how to rescue Strange without the alien killing him first.

Something tapped on Tony's shoulder, causing him to turn with his left gauntlet raised. Izzy copied the motion in response to his sudden movement, but both froze seeing the Cloak of Levitation floating in front of them, the edges of the garment raised as if saying 'don't shoot'.

"Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Tony commented as they lowered their weapons.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty..." A far too familiar voice said nearby.

They turned with wide eyes to see descending to their level, Peter hanging upside down on a web.

"What the..."

"I know what you're gonna say." Peter cut Tony off as he landed on his feet, mask retracting.

Izzy groaned internally. "You should not be here." She said.

"I was gonna go home." Peter started.

"I don't wanna hear it." Tony said.

Peter continued on without pausing. "But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way..."

"And now I gotta hear it." Tony said throwing up his hands.

"...and kinda stuck to the side of the ship." Peter was saying. "And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way."

"God damn it." Tony muttered as Izzy turned away.

"So, if anything, it's kinda your guys' fault that I'm here." Peter finished.

Even the cloak seemed to cringe, knowing that had been the wrong thing to say as Tony and Izzy spun on Peter, who looked at them with wide-eyed horror, realizing his mistake.

"What did you just say?" Tony demanded.

"I take that back." Peter said instantly. "And now, I'm here in space."

Tony walked forward. "Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be." He said firmly. "This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"No, I did think this through." Peter said.

"You could not have possibly thought this through." Izzy said just as angry as Tony.

Peter looked at them with complete seriousness. "You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man…if there's no neighborhood." He said.

Tony and Izzy both paused and stared at him for a moment.

"Okay, that didn't really make sense, but you know what I'm trying to say." Peter said back to his usual chatter.

With a sigh, Tony looked at Izzy, who met his gaze. They still had to rescue Strange and they were too far from Earth to send Peter back now anyways.

Tony let out a shaky breath and turned back to Peter. "Come on. We got a situation." He said as they walked back over to the edge of the platform. He pointed at Strange. "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."

Peter crouched down, assessing. "Um…Okay, okay... Uh..." He stood up and turned to them. "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

Izzy and Tony both rolled their eyes but listened to the plan.

Down below, Strange had broken his silence, crying out in pain as more of the needles stabbed at him in various points over his body.

"Painful, aren't they?" The alien asked in delight. "They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..." He paused hearing a thud. "Could end your friend's life in an instant." He turned to face Tony, who had landed behind him, weapons raised.

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend." Tony said honestly. "Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."

Izzy rolled her eyes as she stood next to the cloak, waiting.

"You've saved nothing." The alien said, telekinetically lifting two large pieces of metal. "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

Tony seemed amused. "Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies." A small rocket launcher on his shoulder activated, blasting a hole in the side of the ship, the alien immediately being sucked out into space.

Strange was pulled towards the now sucking hole as well. The cloak grabbed him first, but he slipped out, then Peter got him with a web. Initially catching onto a spire coming out of the floor, it broke and Strange and Peter both went towards the void. However, the suit, really being very intuitive, produced four spider-like legs from the back of Peter's suit and it caught on the sides of the opening in the wall, bracing them before they flew out.

"Yes!" Peter cried in amazement then seemed concerned. "Wait. What are those?"

"Kid, pull!" Izzy called flying in.

The legs braced and then kicked back, launching both Peter and Strange back inside. Tony and Izzy worked quickly to seal up the opening in the ship. Once done, Izzy flew over and landed next to Strange, suit retracting back to their nanite holding units so she could check him over for major damage.

"Hey, we haven't officially met." Peter said to the cloak, holding out his hand as the legs retracted. The cloak looked at him and then flew towards Strange. "Cool."

"We gotta turn this ship around." Strange said to Tony as Izzy helped him to stand. He leaned on her for a moment as they stood, still in obvious pain.

"Yeah, now he wants to run." Tony scoffed, walking by, his suit retracting as well. "Great plan."

Strange straightened up. "No, I want to protect the stone." He said as the cloak went around his shoulders again.

Izzy walked beside him as they moved up to, what she presumed was the controls of the ship. The image in front of them as they went through space was weird, almost like a strange liquid instead of how movies depicted in.

"And I want you to thank me." Tony replied. "Now, go ahead. I'm listening."

"For what?" Strange shot back. "Nearly blasting me into space?"

Izzy was about ready to knock both of their skulls together.

"Who just saved your magical ass?" Tony demanded, turning around to face Strange. "Me."

She raised an eyebrow. _Seriously?_

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet." Strange replied back.

"Admit it, you should've ducked out when I told you to." Tony said. "I tried to bench you. You refused."

This irritated Strange. "Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." He replied.

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut...billions of miles from Earth with no backup." Tony said.

Peter raised a hand. "I'm backup." He said.

"No, you're a stowaway." Izzy replied looking back at him.

"The adults are talking." Tony said waving him off.

Strange shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. What is he, your ward?" He asked.

"No." Peter said unconcerned. "I'm Peter, by the way."

"Doctor Strange." Strange replied.

"Oh, you're using our made-up names." Peter said. "Um...I'm Spider-Man, then."

Izzy shook her head, unable to help the smile on her face.

"This ship is self-correcting its course." Tony said looking around. "Thing's on autopilot."

"Can we control it?" Strange asked, walking up. "Fly us home?"

Tony was looking around without really seeing anything. Izzy frowned at the distant look in his eyes.

"Stark?" Strange said again.

"Yeah." Tony replied looking up.

Strange said again, firmly. "Can you get us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you." Tony said thoughtfully. His voice was quiet as he said. "I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should."

"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos." Strange said walking forward, voice deadly serious. He scoffed. "I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

"What? No." Tony said angrily getting in Strange's face. "It's you who doesn't understand...that Thanos has been inside my head for six years. Since he sent an army to New York and now he's back." Izzy looked down for a moment as she listened. "And I don't know what to do. So, I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his...but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So, I say we take the fight to him. Doctor." Tony took a breath. "Do you concur?"

Strange was staring at Tony with that same analytical, evaluating expression that Izzy had learned so well from working with him. "All right, Stark." He said carefully. "We go to him. But you have to understand...if it comes to saving you or the kids." He indicated Peter and Izzy with a tilt of his head. "or the Time Stone...I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't, because the universe depends on it."

Tony nodded. "Nice. Good, moral compass." He said. "We're straight." He walked over to Peter next. "All right, kid." He made a motion, like he was knighting him. "You're an Avenger now." He walked away.

Peter had a smile on his face for a minute before he noticed Izzy looking at him somberly. He looked back at her seriously, the reality of what was happening sinking in a little bit.

As Peter walked away to explore the ship, Izzy sighed and sat down on the raised edge of the control platform, leaning against the console.

"Well, I can see where you get your abrasiveness from." Strange commented.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Really? You want to talk to me about being abrasive?" She asked.

Strange smirked slightly. "I seem to recall you making the hospital administrator cry when you came to New York Presbyterian." He commented. She chuckled, standing up. Izzy shivered suddenly, aware now that her jacket was still sitting on the couch in the Sanctum, so she only had her light running clothes on. She crossed her arms, her thin sweater doing little to ward off the cold of space, but the cloak suddenly left Strange to come drape itself around her shoulders.

Izzy smiled at Strange's shocked expression. "What?" She asked innocently. "He likes me, remember?"

Strange shook his head with a smile before he looked up, serious once again. "Tell me honestly. Is he stable enough for this mission?" He asked.

She didn't need to clarify to know what he was asking. "Yeah." Izzy said tugging her sleeves over her hands again and twisting the fabric. "He gets frazzled beforehand, but he'll surprise you once things get moving."

The tic did not go unnoticed by Strange. "And what about you?" He asked.

Izzy looked down at her hands and released her sleeves. "I'm fine." She said.

"What about Captain Rogers?" Strange asked, letting it drop for now. "Will he and the others be able to defend the Mind Stone?"

Izzy let out a breath. "If anyone can, they can." She said confidently.

"You are loyal." Strange said. "I'll give you that."

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked curiously.

Strange sighed. More to himself, replied. "I guess not."

A short while later, Tony joined them again looking more pulled together than earlier. He raised an eyebrow at seeing Izzy wearing the cloak but just shrugged, not asking.

There wasn't time for questions anyway. They were approaching a planet.

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asked coming up.

"I think we're here." Izzy replied, staring at the scene before them as the cloak left her to go back to Strange.

Tony moved over to the right-hand controls. "I don't think this rig has a self-park function." He said. He motioned over to Peter. "Get your hand inside the steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?"

"Yep, got it." Peter said moving to comply quickly.

"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta move at the same time." Tony said.

Peter nodded. "Okay, okay. Ready."

Izzy tensed as she watched the ground starting to come up quickly, a massive structure coming in to view.

"We might wanna turn." Peter said his mask coming up around his head.

Tony and Izzy activated their suits for extra protection and Strange created a magical forcefield around the group when it became apparent that they were not going to land gently.

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" Izzy yelled as they raced towards the ground.


	80. Chapter 80

**Next Chapter. This is the final schedule. This chapter today, the next on the 19th and the last on the 25th. The Guardians, or half of them, are now a part of the story. This chapter was fun to write, hopefully you guys like it too. Maybe two chapters, three at the maximum left.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

They were coming in way too hot and they clipped the big structure, sending the ship off course and cracking in half. The occupants inside were all thrown to the floor as the ship finally hit the ground and slid to a stop.

Izzy sat up and looked around, making sure everyone was still in one piece and not impaled on anything. She looked around as she stood, not immediately seeing Peter.

"You all right?" Strange asked helping Tony to his feet.

"That was close." Tony said. "I owe you one."

Izzy joined them, Tony putting a hand on her arm briefly verifying she was okay.

Descending from the ceiling upside down again, Peter appeared. "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something...and I eat one of you, I'm sorry." He said.

Tony pointed a finger at him. "I do not want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" He said annoyed.

"I'm trying to say that something is coming." Peter said.

As he said that, a small silver device the size of a golf ball was thrown into their midsts. It detonated blowing all four in different directions.

Izzy hit one of the walls hard. Shaking her head, she looked up, helmet coming back up.

Entering through a new hole in the ship were three new beings. One was large and grey with what looked like tattoos covering his body, the one in the middle was wearing a red coat with a full head helmet, and the third looked like some kind of female bug/human.

"Thanos!" The tattooed one yelled and threw some knives at Strange who blocked them. The alien yelled before he charged.

The cloak flew forward and wrapped around the alien's head, dragging him down and holding him there.

The one with the helmet shot up on jet boots of some kind, firing down on them, Tony and Izzy flying up to meet him firing back. Tony tangled with him, knocking him to the ground but the new guy activated a magnet he attached to Tony. The magnet pinned him against the wall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Petr called, drawing Izzy's attention. The female was moving towards him as he spider crawled backwards. "Please don't put your eggs in me!" He webbed her up quickly though she didn't really put up much of a fight.

The guy with the helmet came in behind him, kneeing Peter in the back, knocking him over. "Stay down, clown." He said.

Izzy flew in and connected a fist to the side of his head, the force making him fly to the side. "Wrong move asshole." She said.

"Die, blanket of death!" The tattooed one said trying to pull the cloak off his head.

Tony broke free, landing over the tattooed one and aiming at his head as the cloak moved away and went back to Strange. The helmeted one tossed two devices that wrapped around Peter and Izzy, electrocuting them. Before Peter could break his bindings the guy with the helmet grabbed him and aimed one of his energy guns directly against Peter's head. Izzy broke her electric restraints, nanites reforming into a bigger gun that she leveled at the guys head while holding her other hand up at the female in case she decided to attack somehow, though she was still webbed up.

"Everybody stay where you are." The guy with the helmet said. "Chill the eff out."

"You attacked us and you're telling us to calm down?" Izzy asked incredulously.

The guy ignored that comment though he paused for half a second. He pressed something on the side of his helmet, it retracting to reveal a human looking male. "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'll do you one better." Tony said helmet retracting. "Who's Gamora?"

"I'll do you one better." The tattooed guy said. "Why is Gamora?"

They all looked at him in confusion for a second before going back to the matter at hand.

"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you I'm gonna French fry this little freak." The human looking one said pressing the gun tighter to Peter's head.

Izzy pressed her weapon tighter to the back of the man's head in response.

"Let's do it." Tony said calling the bluff, arm changing into a bigger gun as well aimed right at the tattooed alien's face. "You shoot my guy and I'll blast him. Let's go!"

"Do it, Quill!" The tattooed one said. "I can take it."

"No, he can't take it!" The bug lady called sounding afraid.

"She's right." Strange said. "You can't."

Quill didn't seem happy at all. "Oh, yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all four of you and I'll beat it out of Thanos myself." He looked at Peter. "Starting with you."

Izzy paused and glanced at Strange and Tony.

"Wait, what, Thanos?" Strange said. He rolled his eyes. "All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?"

"What master do I serve?" Quill said. "What am I supposed to say, 'Jesus'?"

Tony paused, looked at Strange before he looked back at Quill in annoyance. "You're from Earth." He said.

Quill seemed insulted. "I'm not from Earth, I'm from Missouri." He said.

Izzy threw her hands up in irritation, weapons forming back to her normal gauntlets.

"Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit." Tony replied. "What are you hassling us for?"

That all seemed to throw Quill off quickly. He seemed to be struggling to catch up to where they were, possibly too much adrenaline going for him to think clearly.

"So, you're not with Thanos?" Peter asked.

"With Thanos?" Quill said in angry disbelief. "No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl. Wait, who are you?"

Peter's mask retracted back. "We're the Avengers, man." He said.

"Oh." Quill let him go, annoyance written all over his face.

"You're the ones Thor told us about." The bug lady said.

Tony and Izzy looked at Quill in shock. Was Thor still alive? "You know Thor?" Tony demanded.

"Yeah." Quill said. "Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving."

"You mean incredibly good-looking." Izzy said.

Tony looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" She asked with a shrug. "I'm indifferent, not blind."

Tony shook his head with a sigh.

"Where is he now?" Strange asked.

Getting outside finally, they looked around at the wasteland that was the remainder of the planet, Titan.

"This place is wrecked." Izzy said stepping down only to bounce up like she had jumped on a trampoline. She landed next to Peter, who looked at her with wide eyes, and thankfully she didn't bounce up again. "Whoa."

"The hell happened to this planet?" Quill said looking at a vial with some golden light in his hand. "It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."

The new group apparently called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they were quickly getting on her nerves. She seriously questioned how they had stayed alive for as long as they had.

"Yeah, we got one advantage." Tony said looking around. "He's coming to us. We'll use it." He turned back to Izzy, Peter, And Quill who were standing close. "All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet." He paused looking at the tattooed alien, Drax who was standing next to the appropriately buggy named, Mantis. "Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down. Huh? Did you hear what I said?"

"I stopped listening after you said, 'We need a plan'." Drax answered honestly.

"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page." Tony muttered.

Quill shrugged. "See, 'not winging it' isn't really what they do." He said.

"No shit." Izzy muttered.

Peter half raised a hand. "Uh, what exactly is it that they do?" He asked curiously.

"Kick names, take ass." Mantis said in her oddly French accent.

"Yeah, that's right." Drax said.

Izzy dropped her forehead against Peter's shoulder, actually exhausted by this conversation. Peter and Tony could only stare in disbelief for a moment.

"All right, just get over here, please." Tony said sounding tired. "Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"

"Mr. Lord." Quill shook his head. "Star-Lord is fine." He cleared his throat nervously when Izzy glared at him, motioning for Drax and Mantis to come over.

"We gotta coalesce." Tony said. "'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude..."

"Dude, don't call us plucky." Quill said. "We don't know what it means. All right, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan...and that way it might be really good."

Even Peter was looking at them with annoyance at this point.

"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe." Drax said to Quill who tried to shush him.

"What dance-off?" Tony said more out of disbelief than wanting to hear it.

Quill shook his head. "It's nothing." He said.

"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Peter asked confused.

"Exactly like Footloose." Quill said, eyes lighting up. "Is it still the greatest movie in history?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "It never was." He said.

"Don't encourage this, all right?" Tony said to Peter moving them away from Quill and the others.

"Okay." Peter said.

Tony sighed and looked at Izzy. "We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here." He said.

"Flash Gordon?" Quill said. "By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human. So that 50% of me that's stupid..." Tony nodded waiting to see where this was going. "that's 100% you."

"Your math is blowing my mind." Izzy said sarcastically.

"Excuse me." Mantis said suddenly. "But does your friend often do that?"

They turned back to see Strange, who Izzy had left to meditate or something, was floating in the air, the Time Stone glowing in its medallion and green bands were glowing around his arms. His head was the interesting thing about all of it, it was moving so quickly they were seeing after images, like he had multiple heads moving at once.

"Strange, we all right?" Tony called as he and Izzy walked up to him cautiously.

Strange came out of it with a startled cry, gasping for air.

Izzy grabbed his hand quickly, anchoring him in reality. "You're back. You're all right." She said gently.

Strange looked at the two of them, recognition coming back to his eyes.

"Hi." Tony said. "Hey, what was that?"

Strange sucked in a deep breath. "I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."

Izzy frowned, getting that sinking feeling again.

"How many did you see?" Tony asked.

"14,000,605." Strange replied.

Izzy was almost afraid to ask. "How many did we win?"

Strange looked up and met her gaze. "One."


	81. Chapter 81

**One more chapter to go.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Plan finally set; Izzy hovered next to Tony behind one of the giant pieces of debris floating in the messed-up gravity fields of the planet. Everyone was spread out in various positions out of sight for when Thanos appeared. Everyone, except Strange, who was sitting on the broken steps waiting for the Mad Titan.

A portal, like a ring of purple smoke appeared and a large being, as big if not bigger than the Hulk stepped out. Only one detail stood out to Izzy, the golden gauntlet on his left hand, four Infinity Stones in place already. He had been busy since their last update on the count.

"Oh, yeah." Strange said drawing the alien's attention. "You're much more of a Thanos."

Thanos regarded him with a somber, almost sad look. "I take it the Maw is dead." Strange nodded and Thanos' shoulders dropped almost imperceptibly. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission." He said looking at the medallion around Strange's neck.

"You may regret that." Strange replied in an eerily calm voice. "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

"And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asked.

"Let me guess." Strange said glancing around. "Your home?"

Thanos smiled sadly. "It was." He said activating the Reality Stone, showing them all an image of a once beautiful planet, all the debris that they had seen repaired and in its proper place. Beings just like Thanos walking about without a care. "And it was beautiful. Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide." Strange said grimly.

"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike." Thanos said letting the image return to normal. "They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass."

"Congratulations, you're a prophet." Strange said blandly.

"I'm a survivor." Thanos replied quietly.

Strange's eyes narrowed. "Who wants to murder trillions." He replied.

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers." Thanos said miming the action with his right hand. "They would all cease to exist. I call that mercy."

Izzy's fists clenched as she listened to this.

"And then what?" Strange asked.

"I'd finally rest...and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe." Thanos replied, sounding tired. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

Strange stood up. "I think you'll find our will equal to yours." He said activating his magic.

Izzy and Tony moved. That was their cue.

"Our?" Thanos said and looked up, seeing the massive metal structure coming down on him as Tony and Izzy propelled it down.

"Piece of cake, Quill." Tony said as the others came in.

"Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off." Was Quill's sarcastic reply as he ran forward, activating his jot boots.

Tony and Izzy spaced themselves apart from each other in the air as the structure blew out into thousands of pieces via one of the Stones in Thanos' gauntlet. Activating another Stone, Thanos morphed the broken pieces into these bat-like swarms to go after them. Izzy was able to dodge down towards the ground, but Tony got hit.

Izzy fired a blast into Thanos' chest, knocking him off balance as Peter swung in shooting a web ball into Thanos' face, covering his eyes to blind him and landing a kick to the face. Drax jumped in and used one of his big knives to attempt to hamstring him. Strange walked through a portal, using his magic to create a sword.

Even blind, Thanos was blocking Strange and Drax in every attack they made. Thanos knocked Drax away and caught Strange's sword in one hand as he ripped the webbing free from his eyes.

Releasing the magic so the sword disintegrated, Strange brought up a shield to block one of Thanos' strikes before moving out of range for an attack from Thanos.

Quill ran in, using magic created stepping platforms that Strange created to flip over Thanos' head and connect an explosive to his back. "Boom!" Quill said flipping him the bird and falling back through a portal. The blast knocked Thanos off balance.

"Don't let him close his fist." Strange instructed the cloak which raced over to wrap around the gauntlet.

"Magic." Peter said jumping in through a portal to punch Thanos, landing in another portal. "More magic." He came out another portal grabbing onto Thanos' head and kicking both feet into his stomach before propelling himself backwards through another portal. "Magic with a kick." He landed a kick to his face. "Magic with a..."

Peter was cut off as Thanos caught him around the neck and slammed him into the ground. "Insect!" The alien growled before throwing Peter into Strange. He ripped the cloak off his hand.

Tony flew back on fire bombing Thanos, but the alien absorbed the energy of the attack and redirected the fire stream back at Tony.

Peter flipped in, webbing the gauntlet up and pulling the arm connected to it taught. However, Thanos was stronger and yank on the webbing, throwing Peter again. Izzy noticed a small ship coming in, heading directly for Thanos.

Flying in, Izzy grabbed Peter and pulled him out of the way as the ship crashed.

Thanos emerged from the wreckage, but another alien, this one blue with metal pieces, jumped out of the wreckage and attacked Thanos.

"Well, well." Thanos said in amusement.

The blue alien looked furious. "You should've killed me." The alien said.

"It would've been a waste of parts!" Thanos snarled.

The new alien attacked Thanos with something that looked like a riot baton but with electricity running through it. However, her attacks weren't even coming close to hurting him. "Where's Gamora?" She demanded.

Thanos backhanded her and she went flying back.

Strange created four magical red whip-like things and wrapped them around the gauntlet, preventing Thanos from closing his hand and pulling his arm out straight. Drax slid in and kicked out Thanos' right leg, sending him down to one knee. Quill launched some kind of electromagnetic trap that caught onto Thanos' right hand and pulled it away from the gauntlet. Peter swung in, wrapping webs around Thanos to pull him back, the extra nanite spider legs coming out to dig in, keeping Thanos off balance as Tony and Izzy flew in grabbing onto the gauntlet, taking over for Strange so he could open a portal above Thanos for Mantis to drop onto his shoulders before using his magic to hold onto the right hand as well.

Mantis placed her hands on Thanos' head, using her empathic abilities to knock him out. It was a tense moment as they all held onto him. Thanos gave a primal yell before his eyes clouded over and they felt less resistance from him.

"Is he under?" Tony asked. "Don't let up."

Mantis' voice sounded strained. "Be quick. He is very strong." She pleaded, sounding like she was in pain.

"Parker, help! Get over here." Izzy said as she and Tony pulled at the gauntlet. "She can't hold him much longer. Let's go."

"We gotta open his fingers to get it off." Peter said as he pulled at the gauntlet.

Quill flew in as they were all straining to hold on to Thanos or get the gauntlet off. "I thought you'd be hard to catch." He said as his helmet retracted back. "For the record, this was my plan." He pointed at Tony before turning back to Thanos. "You're not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?" His voice sounded strained, like he was holding back something.

"My Gamora." Thanos said still in a dazed state.

"No, bullshit!" Quill said angrily. "Where is she?"

Mantis cried in pain. "He is in anguish." She said feeling what Thanos felt.

Quill looked at her and then back down again. "Good." He said.

"He... He mourns." Mantis said.

"What does this monster have to mourn?" Drax asked struggling to hold on.

The new alien spoke. "Gamora." She said walking forward.

Quill turned slowly. "What?" He asked her.

Izzy looked at them as she pulled on the gauntlet. The alien's expression was carefully concealed anguish.

"He took her to Vormir." The alien said. "He came back with the Soul Stone. But she didn't."

"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now." Tony said helmet retracting back. "You understand?" Quill slowly turned back to Thanos; they were losing him. "Don't, don't. Don't engage. We almost got this off!"

"Tell me she's lying." Quill said and the blue alien looked down. "Asshole, tell me you didn't do it!"

"I had to." Thanos said voice distant, straining against Mantis' powers.

Quill shook his head. "No, you didn't." He said, tearing coming to his eyes. "No, you didn't." He raised his hand holding his gun and began to hit Thanos in the face. "No, you didn't!"

"Quill!" Izzy yelled as he broke Mantis' hold on Thanos.

"Hey, stop!" Tony grabbed Quill, helmet coming back up. "Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!"

Izzy pulled harder on the gauntlet.

"It's coming, it's coming." Peter said as the gauntlet began to move for them. "I got it, I got it!"

Thanos came to and grabbed onto the gauntlet, knocking Peter and Izzy back before throwing Mantis off him.

"Oh, God." Peter scrambled up and jumped to catch her, spider legs coming out of the suit to help them roll out of the fall.

Thanos kicked Drax into Quill and the female alien. Strange tried to grab him again with the red magic bands but Thanos threw him away with easy. Tony and Izzy both flew in, but their repulsor shots bounced right off and he batted them away like they were nothing. He hit Drax, Quill and the female alien right a blast from the gauntlet which incapacitated them.

Tony attacked him with a nanite sword but Thanos grabbed him and headbutted him back. Tony landed next to Izzy who was forcing herself to move, her arm arching. Thanos looked up at the moon in the sky and made a grabbing movement with his hand, the stones in the gauntlet glowing as a shockwave went through the moon.

Tony and Izzy stared up in shock as Thanos literally brought the moon down from the sky in fiery pieces. They tried to dodge around but there were too many and they got caught.

"I got you. I got you." Peter said swinging around to get people, who were floating around in the messed-up gravity, to get them out of harm's way. "I'm sorry I can't remember anybody's names."

Strange flew in to face Thanos. Izzy watched them trade attacks back and forth, amazed by the display of Strange's abilities that seemed to match the power of the stones…at first.

Thanos broke the final illusion and attack, grabbing Strange by the throat. "You're full of tricks, wizard." He said. He yanked the medallion free from Strange's neck. "Yet you never once used your greatest weapon." Crushing it in his hand, he scoffed. "A fake." He threw Strange aside like a rag doll.

Tony and Izzy flew up, Tony launching a nanite piece against Thanos' hand, preventing him from closing his hand. They landed in front of Thanos.

"You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna lose it." Tony said.

"Stark." Thanos acknowledge.

They paused. "You know me?" Tony asked.

"I do." Thanos replied. "You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."

"My only curse is you." Tony replied.

Thanos braced for the next attack. "Come on!"

They flew in, using every weapon, trick at their disposal, but it wasn't enough. Thanos knocked them back and broke the restraint off the gauntlet. Tony brought up a shield but the attack from the stone branched out and hit Izzy dead on, knocking her back into a pile of rubble. She gasped in pain, feeling like every nerve in her body was on fire. Her suit began to malfunction, the stones having damaged the nanite power units.

She watched Tony attack Thanos, pinning the gauntlet to the ground and hitting Thanos in the face.

Touching his cheek, Thanos looked at his hand. "All that for a drop of blood." He said. He broke his arm free and began hitting Tony, lifting him up and using a blast from the gauntlet to knock him away.

Tony stood and focused the repulsors on Thanos, who continued to walk forward. Thanos caught Tony's left arm, but Tony reorganized the nanites into a sword but Thanos dodged, grabbing that arm too.

Izzy watched in horror as Thanos broke the sword free and stabbed Tony right through the abdomen. "NO!" She screamed.

"You have my respect, Stark." Thanos said looking into his eyes. "When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive." He stepped back as Tony spit out blood. "I hope they remember you." He raised the gauntlet.

"Stop." Strange spoke suddenly. Thanos looked at him. "Spare his life..." Tony and Izzy both looked over at him. "and I will give you the stone."

Izzy tried to push herself up, but her body screamed in protest. "Stephen, no…" She said falling back down.

"No tricks." Thanos said.

Strange shook his head slowly. Thanos turned the gauntlet towards Strange.

"Don't." Tony choked out.

Strange held up a hand and the green stone formed. Tony looked away as Thanos held out his hand. The stone floated towards Thanos.

Thinking quickly, Izzy reorganized the last of the nanites and flew forward, using a gauntlet covered hand to grab onto the stone. She gasped as Thanos' massive hand closed around her torso, pinning her other arm. She turned her eyes up to Thanos, raising her head defiantly.

"You have the eyes of a warrior. So much like hers." Thanos looked at her with a sad expression. He seemed to almost be talking to someone else as he said. "I am sorry little one" He raised the gauntlet and broke the nanites surrounding her hand.

Just the briefest touch of the stone against her skin, sent a shock radiating through her system and everything went white for a second. Thanos voice floated through her subconscious. "One to go."


	82. Chapter 82

**Note at the end.**

* * *

Izzy came back quickly, once the stone was taken away, less than a second had passed. Her eyes focused in on the gauntlet, seeing the green Time Stone sitting in its place.

Suddenly, something hit the gauntlet. Craning her neck back, she saw Quill flying in, firing at Thanos.

Thanos moved her aside, almost out of way of the shots and suddenly they were stepping through a portal. It was a frozen moment in time that Izzy met Tony's gaze before the portal closed behind them.

Blinking in confusion, she looked around and saw a burning Wakanda, but her eyes focused on faces she never thought she'd see again.

Steve, Natasha, and Sam were standing in front of Wanda and Pietro who were kneeling next to an injured Vision. Rhodey was in his War Machine armor near T'Challa and Okoye, and Bruce was in the Hulk Buster armor, still obviously unable to work out the differences with his other half.

"Cap." Bruce said. "That's him."

Steve met her gaze and she winced as Thanos grip tightened, forcing the air from her lungs. "Eyes up. Stay sharp." He said as his eyes hardened.

Thanos used the gauntlet to make the Hulk Buster armor pass right through them and then imbed the armor into the side of the rocky cliff behind them. He used the stones to lift Steve into the air and then threw Izzy to collide with Steve in midair.

Steve's arms wrapped around her and he turned so he landed on the ground first. Izzy rolled off; her armor completely gone. She looked up to see Thanos grab T'Challa and punch him. Sam flew in but was knocked aside. Feeling that familiar feeling of weightlessness for a moment, Izzy blinked as her feet touched the ground and realized she was in Pietro's arms, away from Thanos and the attack, back near Wanda and Vision.

"Wanda." Vision said making her look back at him. "It's time."

"No." Wanda said turning back to Thanos.

"They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can." Vision said grabbing her hand and forcing her to turn back to him. "Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone."

"Don't." Wanda said.

"You must do it. Wanda, please." Vision said resting her hand against his cheek as her lower lip trembled. "We are out of time."

"I can't." Wanda cried.

"Yes, you can." Vision said. "You can. If he gets the stone, half the universe dies." He gently pushed her back, holding her hand out towards him. "It's not fair. It shouldn't be you, but it is. It's all right. You could never hurt me. I just feel you."

Wanda was crying as she released an energy beam directly into the Mind Stone.

Izzy watched as everyone concentrated their attacks on Thanos, but they weren't a match. Wanda, seeing him coming closer, raised her other hand to double her efforts to destroy the stone.

Steve faced Thanos, one on one, and caught the gauntlet, tying to hold him but Thanos just punched him, knocking him to the ground.

Pietro moved to let her go, but Thanos sent a blast their way, knocking both to the ground.

"It's all right." Vision told Wanda as the stone began to crack. "It's all right. I love you."

As Thanos reached them, the stone shattered and the resulting blast knocked them all away, sending a shockwave through the trees.

Izzy painfully pushed herself up, checking Pietro, who had taken the brunt of the blast for her. He was just unconscious for the moment.

"I understand, my child." Thanos said walking forward to stand beside Wanda, who was on the ground. "Better than anyone."

Wanda looked up and glared. "You could never." She spat with venom.

"Today, I lost more than you can know." Thanos replied. "But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all." He moved forward, raising the gauntlet and activating the Time Stone.

Wanda and Izzy watched in horror as he reversed the explosion and brought Vision and the Mind Stone back.

"No!" Wanda cried but Thanos knocked her away.

Thanos lifted Vision up by the throat.

"No, please don't!" Izzy screamed as Thanos reached for the stone.

Thanos didn't hesitate the break the stone from Vision's forehead, and Izzy watched as the color faded and Vision's whole body turned grey. Thanos put the stone in the final place on the gauntlet, the immediate power surge apparent as all six stones were harnessed together.

Suddenly, a massive blast of lightning came out of the sky, knocking Thanos away. Izzy looked up and saw Thor, with a shorter haircut and a new weapon, a massive battle axe, coming out of the sky.

Thanos raised the gauntlet and sent a concentrated blast, but Thor through the axe and it cut through Thanos' attack to embed itself into Thanos chest.

Thor landed in front of the wounded titan. "I told you..." He said holding the back of Thanos' head. "you'd die for that." He shoved the weapon further into his chest, towards his heart.

Thanos cried out but after a moment gasped. "You should have...You should..." He tried to force out before looking up at Thor and snarled. "You should have gone for the head."

Thor looked over as Thanos raised the gauntlet. "No!" He cried as Thanos snapped his fingers and everyone was blinded by a flash of white light.

When her sight came back, Izzy looked at Thanos and Thor.

Thor was staring at the gauntlet, which was damaged and Thanos' arm was badly burned. "What did you do?" He demanded. "What'd you do?"

Thanos opened a portal and fell back, disappearing but leaving Thor's weapon.

Izzy helped Pietro stand and supported him as they moved over to Wanda, who was kneeling by Vision's body.

"Where'd he go?" Steve asked walking up. He looked around and then back. "Thor. Where'd he go?"

"Steve?"

Izzy looked up at Bucky's tone and saw the soldier looking at his arm as he suddenly turned to dust and ash as he collapsed to the ground. Her eyes widened as Steve and Thor looked at each other, Steve kneeling next to where his friend had fallen.

Out in the open plane, Wakandans were falling to dust in the same manner, ships falling from the sky.

"Up, General. Up!" T'Challa said moving over to Okoye. "This is no place to die." He reached to help her up, but suddenly he turned to dust as well.

Okoye stood up yelling for the king in Xhosa.

"I am Groot." The tree alien that had attacked Thanos was down.

"Oh...No, no, no!" A talking racoon said moving over to the tree as it turned to ash. "Groot! No."

"Sam!" Izzy could hear Rhodey calling out. "Sam, where you at?"

Seeing Wanda disappear into dust, Izzy turned quickly to look at Pietro. His blue eyes turned to her. "No." She whispered as his arm tightened around her. She placed her hands to his face. "Stay with me." She watched as he faded to dust, slipping through her fingers.

Gasping, Izzy dropped down beside Vision's lifeless form. She felt something tugging at the inside of her chest, thoughts now on those that she was separated from on Titan.

Steve walked over, carefully kneeling down and turning Vision over as Natasha ran up. She looked on in horror as Steve fell back, looking lost.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked walking up. "What the hell is happening?

Izzy looked up, meeting Steve's gaze, feeling numb.

"Oh, God." Steve whispered.

* * *

 **Holy sh*t! This movie you guys! That wraps up Infinity War! We're in the Endgame now...**

 **So I will explain my thought process really quick. I can't have Izzy turn to dust otherwise I can't write Endgame, but I thought, what would be the worst thing to happen after the snap? I realized it would be Izzy separated from Tony, not knowing whether he survived or not. She knew he could possibly survive the stabbing, but the snap? After everything they've gone through, will Izzy break and lose hope faced with this?**

 **As always, please review :) I'll try to update as soon as I recover from Endgame.**


	83. Chapter 83

**Hey all! Quick chapter to celebrate over 100k views! That is so cool and I could not be more grateful! Thank you all!**

 **I will release a chapter for each week leading up to the start of Endgame as it was 22 days after the end of IW. This is week one. These won't be super long chapters so I'll try to have them up quickly. Once we get into the actual movie they will get longer.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 **Week 1**

Things were a blur, if you asked Izzy how she got from Wakanda back to the Compound, she wouldn't really be able to answer. She was numb.

They had lost.

For the first time, they had truly, truly lost. This wasn't something they could just fight their way out of. Half of all life on Earth, and the rest of the galaxy, was just gone.

Shoving aside every other task, the first thing Izzy did was try to find Pepper. She had to know if there was any chance that Pepper made it out okay. Communications were down, flights were grounded, traffic was not moving anywhere, and people were panicking. It wasn't exactly easy to try to find one person amongst all that.

After checking every stateside place that she could think of, Izzy began to feel panic pulling at her chest. However, she pushed it down for now.

On her way back from California, Natasha asked her to check on Clint because she hadn't been able to reach him, and she was tied up with damage control with the others.

Landing at the familiar farm, Izzy looked around. It was night, so it was already quiet, but there was a stillness that had the hairs on the back of her neck rising.

Her armor from her new nanite suit retracted as she looked around. She walked up the front steps and knocked on the door, waiting, listening. After a second, she knocked again. After receiving no answer, she tried the door, surprised to find it unlocked. Pushing it open, she found the house completely dark.

"Clint?" She called. "It's Izzy. You here?" She heard nothing. She tried the lights, but they were out. "Laura? Lila? Boys?"

Activating her armor to cover her arm, she shone a light around the room and the scene surprised her. It looked like the house had been ransacked. Furniture was overturned, there was a hole in the TV, it was a mess.

Though it was a long shot, she started scanning for a reading from the ankle monitor that Clint had been wearing. It was faint but it was there. Following the signal outside, she scanned the area, the heads-up display in her glasses enhancing her vision in the dark as she shown the light around. She saw a target pinned up to a tree and away off at the picnic table was the remnants of a meal that the birds and squirrels hadn't gotten to. The signal pulled her to the barn, every step feeling like a thousand.

Walking in, she found the monitor laying on the straw covered ground next a small bow and quiver, painted with Lila's designs, two baseball gloves, one was Cooper's and the other just big enough for Nathaniel.

Izzy stared at the small items for a long moment before she had to run outside. She fell to her knees on the dirt, blood rushing in her ears, and heaved into the grass.

Her breath came in harsh gasps and tears streamed down her face. She didn't need to guess what happened.

When she was able to breathe normally again, she got back to her feet and walked back into the barn, something had caught her attention before she had to run. She picked up the monitor and stared at it. It wasn't in one piece; the strap had been cut roughly.

If Clint had been part of the Snap, the monitor would be neatly intact. He must have made it!

Going back outside, Izzy brought up her display to search for the old equipment that she knew Clint kept from his and Natasha's pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. days. She needed to send a message.

Flying back to the compound, Izzy was eager to find Natasha and tell her what she had found. As she walked down the hall, she heard voices coming from the common area.

"We're not sure." Steve spoke. "Isabel hasn't told us what happened while she was in space."

"She's probably still in shock." Natasha spoke next. "I mean it wasn't exactly a gentle return to Earth and none of us have had a second to breathe since."

Izzy rounded the corner and she stopped. "Happy?" She looked at the man who was very much a part of her family.

Happy looked back smiled in relief. "Hey sweet pea." He said using a nickname she hadn't heard him use since she was little.

As he stepped back though, Izzy heart stopped as she focused on strawberry blonde hair and tear-filled blue eyes. Before she had a chance to even process what was happening, Pepper wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. Izzy had to shift, just to get air in, Pepper was holding her so tight. However, the minute her brain caught up, tears blurred her gaze and she wrapped her arms around the older woman just as tightly.

Izzy sobbed out. "Mom."


	84. Chapter 84

**Note at the end.**

* * *

 **Week Two**

Izzy was sitting on the sofa with Pepper, who had her arms securely wrapped around her, like she was afraid Izzy would disappear if she released her. They had been together from the moment Izzy got back to the compound two days ago. There was finally a moment for them all to be in the same room so everyone else had spread out in the circle of chairs as they filled Izzy in on what happened once she left orbit.

"Bruce called us right after New York." Steve said. "Sam, Nat, and I found Pietro and convinced him to tell us where Wanda and Vision were. We found them in Edinburgh, they were already under attack by Thanos' minions trying to get the Mind Stone."

"Vision was hurt badly during the battle." Natasha said. "We got him back to the compound so we could meet up with Rhodey and Bruce but then we took Vision to Wakanda. It was the only place that could help us."

Bruce looked up. "Shuri tried to separate the Stone from Vision so we could destroy it but also keep Vision alive. You were right by the way about the preprogrammed synapses when we were creating Vision." He said.

Izzy smiled faintly, knowing Shuri had probably been criticizing them the entire time. Her smile almost instantly vanished with the thought that Shuri was gone with the Snap.

"You already know what happened in the end." Steve said quietly.

Yeah, she did. Taking a deep breath, Izzy sat up more so she could face them all and tell her portion of the story. Bruce had filled them in on everything New York so she started from when they flew after the ship to save Strange and Peter, who had stubbornly refused to let go of the ship.

"You and Peter are the most annoyingly persistent people, I swear." Izzy said with a teasing smile to Steve.

Steve smiled faintly and everyone chuckled quietly.

"Once we got Stephen away from—I think Thanos called him the Maw—we went to Titan." Izzy said. "Hindsight being what it is, probably not the greatest idea but we thought if we could keep him away from Earth, maybe we could keep everyone safe." She ran her fingers through her hair before tugging at her sleeves again and twisting them in her hands. She noticed Steve's eyes take in the motion, but he didn't ask, and she couldn't stop. "Once there we met a group that called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Rocket, the raccoon she had noticed in Wakanda, looked up. He had been relatively silent until that point, still mourning the loss of the tree alien he called Groot.

"They attacked us thinking we worked for Thanos." Izzy said. "I'll have to show you the footage from the fight, it's pretty crazy. After that whole mess was explained, they agreed to help us. About half way through the fight a blue cyborg alien jumped in to fight Thanos as well—never caught her name…"

"Nebula." Rocket said with a slightly bitter tone. "She's Thanos' other daughter and Gamora's sister."

"Quill initially wanted to know where Gamora was." Izzy said. "I guess he kidnapped her before we ever showed up on Titan. Nebula mentioned that Thanos took her to a place called Vormir but never brought her back so I'm assuming he killed her. When Quill found out, he went a little ballistic—we were so damn close!" She muttered in frustration before coming back. "We tried to fight him, but he was just too strong. The things he could do with the Stones…we gave it everything and it wasn't enough. I watched him stab dad through the stomach with a nanite sword." Pepper covered her mouth and took Izzy's hand. "Stephen was going to give him the Stone…I tried to grab it, but I couldn't keep it away from him. That was the point that we came through the portal to Wakanda."

Izzy left out the portion where she actually touched the Time Stone.

"He might still be alive." Natasha said softly.

Izzy smiled half-heartedly. "Maybe."

The rest of the week moved at lightning speed. Izzy and Pepper were attempting to keep things running with Stark Industries while Izzy was also tried to coordinate with the Avengers.

Izzy was talking with Pepper, getting ready to leave the New York office for SI to head to Wakanda when Happy walked in.

"There's someone here to see you." Happy said, his tone a little stiffer than normal.

Izzy frowned. "Who?" She asked.

A voice floated in from the secretary area into the office. "I know she's in there. I need to see her. I need to know if she has seen him!"

Recognizing the voice, Izzy dropped the folder in her hands onto her desk and hurried to the door. Opening it, her heart stopped as she took in the distraught brunette woman. "May?"

* * *

 **Oh dang. So, the Russos confirmed that May had survived the snap, so of course she is going to search for answers since Peter was last seen fighting with Tony and Izzy. We'll see the fall out from the this in the next chapter. I am probably going to split week three into a two part piece...maybe. We'll see.**

 **As always, please review :)**


	85. Chapter 85

**Dear lord this chapter was hard to write. I apologize now. Just...yeah I'm sorry. Next chapter will wrap up the in-between and we will start on Endgame after that.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 **Week 3 - Beginning**

Izzy shot up in bed, her scream bouncing off the walls to echo painfully back into her own ears. Gasping for air she threw the blankets off looking for any kind of relief from the suffocation of the lingering nightmare. Pushing her sweat soaked hair back from her face, she got up to go into the en-suite bathroom and splash cold water onto her overheated skin.

Jumping in the shower, she tried to block out the sound of May's cries still playing on repeat in her head.

 _~ "May?" Izzy said in surprise as she looked at the distraught woman she had come to know so well._

 _May Parker looked away from the startled secretary to Izzy. "Isabel, have you seen Peter?" She asked. "Do you know where he is?"_

 _Before answering, Izzy took May's hand and pulled her into the office. "FRIDAY, secure office." She said as Happy and Pepper looked at the two._

 _"I haven't heard from him." May said. "I saw him on the news, Spider-Man fighting aliens—he was supposed to be on a field trip. Mrs. Leeds hasn't heard from Ned and MJ is gone…" The longer she spoke, the more worked up she became._

 _"May," Izzy took hold of her shoulders gently. "I need you to take a breath for me okay. Here come sit down over here."_

 _Izzy tried to lead her to the sofa along the wall, but May resisted._

 _"No, I don't need to sit!" May said. "I need to know where Peter is." She spoke softly as she looked at Izzy with tear filled eyes. "Please tell me my baby is alright."_

 _Izzy felt like she had been hit by the Hulk again. It hurt to draw air in to her lungs. "I don't know." She said honestly. She told May the truth, how Peter wanted to help, how he had refused to let go of the spaceship or go home when they told him to. She left out the details of the fight on Titan but explained how she had been forced back to Earth while the others were on Titan, including Tony._

 _May listened with a shocked expression. After a second, she cleared her throat. "But you didn't see him disappear?" She asked._

 _Izzy's heart sank as she realized where May was with her grief. "May…"_

 _"No. You didn't see it so there is a chance he might still be out there." May said quickly looking at Pepper and Happy briefly before looking back at Izzy. "Right? He could still be okay!"_

 _"May." Izzy gently tried to say, holding her hands out._

 _"No!" May shoved Izzy suddenly. "He was supposed to stay away from all that! He wasn't supposed to get drawn into the Avengers!"_

 _Izzy didn't protest as May shoved her again but then May gripped on to her, sobbing. Izzy's jaw locked as she felt tears sting the back of her eyes. She helped lower May down to the floor, so she didn't fall as the woman's legs buckled._

 _May sobbed into Izzy's arms as Pepper knelt beside them both. "Please bring my baby back!"_

 _Izzy wasn't great with emotion. No Stark was, but especially faced with the woman who had trusted them to watch over the boy she raised, that they had so spectacularly failed, Izzy didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry." Izzy whispered as her own tears began to fall. ~_

Izzy was in the workshop when she heard the door open. Glancing up from the nanite unit she was working on, she saw Pepper's reflection in the glass across the room.

"You're up late." Izzy said, wincing internally at her own hoarse voice, throat feeling raw.

"Steve said he heard you screaming." Pepper said cutting right to the chase.

Izzy tensed. "He shouldn't have woken you. I'm fine." She said.

"Really?" Pepper said walking forward. "Is that why you have bandages on you hand when you were fine a few hours ago?"

Izzy glanced at her wrapped left hand, thinking about the broken mirror in her bathroom. "It's nothing. Small burn from working with the nanites." She said.

"Right." Pepper said not believing her.

Nor should she.

Pepper came over to lean against the work bench but Izzy refused to look up from what she was working on. Reaching out a hand, Pepper brushed a lock of dark hair, still damp from her shower, back behind Izzy's ear. "When was the last time you slept?" She asked.

Izzy opened her mouth, but Pepper clarified. "All through the night?"

The younger woman paused. She didn't tell Pepper but after they had seen May that day, she hadn't been able to sleep, she went two days without sleeping before she gave herself a sedative. That turned out to be the worst mistake because she was locked into her nightmares on a constant loop without being able to wake herself up. Not willing to make that mistake again, Izzy had done nothing, but she hadn't truly slept more than a few hours over the last three days.

Izzy just settled on quietly saying, "I'm fine."

"Izzy, I've known you your whole life." Pepper said. "You think I don't know when something is wrong?"

Izzy let out a laugh that came out half a sob. "Of course, something is wrong." She said turning to face Pepper. "It's all wrong! Mom, half of all life is gone! That may mean dad, that may mean Peter, it definitely meant Sam, and Bucky, T'Challa, Shuri…the Twins. Clint's family is gone, he's MIA…"

Pepper stared at her as Izzy's words rushed out faster the longer that she went on.

"You experience things and then they're over, and you still can't explain them." Izzy said. "Gods, aliens, other dimensions. Everything is turned on it's head and we're at fault for it. We couldn't stop it. The only reason I haven't lost my mind, the only reason I'm still going forward is because you didn't die in the Snap. Which is great. I love you. I'm lucky when so many others weren't. But mom, I can't sleep." Here voice cracked. "You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know. I tinker. I..." She broke off for a second to take a breath. She looked back at Pepper who was waiting patiently for her to finish. "Threat is imminent. And I have left is to protect the one thing now that I can't live without. That's you."

Pepper, without a word, pulled Izzy close and just held her tightly for a while. Izzy wrapped her own arms around Pepper, resting her head against her shoulder as they stood in silence.

"After New York, your Dad was a mess." Pepper said after a minute. Pulling back, she looked at Izzy. "You knew this, you picked up on it. He went days without sleeping, he had nightmares, he became obsessed."

Izzy listened, not sure where Pepper was going with this.

"When you were in New York during the whole Mandarin thing, I came home from work and Tony had a giant bunny sitting in front of the house." Pepper said. Izzy chuckled, remembering the bunny. "When I came inside, I found out he had been controlling his suit from downstairs, he messed up date night, we had a small fight, and he said almost the exact same thing to me that you just did." Pepper smiled. "That was five years ago. Look at what he's done since then. He continued on, fighting his demons along the way and he helped save countless lives."

Izzy was captivated as Pepper gently cupped her face in her hands.

"You are your father's daughter." Pepper said. "And no matter if he is here or not you will continue to fight and save people, not just for me, but because that is what you do. It's who you are. You are an Avenger."


	86. Chapter 86

**WARNING! Not gonna lie, I surprised myself with how dark this chapter came out...if anyone doesn't understand the references in this chapter you can PM me or do a quick google search. I changed some minor things but I thought it was a bit poetic to start Clint on his path with this as the first target.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 **Week 3 – Ending**

Flying high overhead, Izzy surveyed the colorful tents and booths that were spread out over the fairly large area. Landing dead center, she looked around cautiously as she took in her surroundings. The sign read **Carson Carnival Of Traveling Wonders** but the whole place looked deserted despite it being a Saturday night and the signs reading open.

The music playing in the background was eerie as she walked through the pathways cautiously. This wasn't unusual to see a place like this abandoned since the Snap, but something felt off.

For nearly three weeks Izzy had been playing a message into the void, hoping the Clint would hear it and finally, something answered back. She was able to find this location based on the response. Taking off at 11pm without notice had not gone over well with the others but she had to know if it was Clint. She'd ask forgiveness later.

Scanning the tents, she found one heat signature that was at the main tent where they kept the high wire and other things for the main show. The closer she got to the tent, the more she felt chills going down her spine. The large tent was the only one with power running to it, the creepy music getting louder as she walked. Something was definitely wrong. However, as she approached, she saw a familiar figure standing just outside the main entrance.

Relief coursed through her as her armor retracted and she crossed the last bit of space to wrap her arms tightly around Clint. If her mind hadn't been clouded by the joy of seeing him again, and alive, she would have felt the stiffness in the way that he hugged her back, she would have noticed her instincts screaming at her that there was still danger. She didn't care though.

"Hey kid." Clint said, his voice quiet.

"I'm so glad you answered back." She said, still holding on to him. "We've all been so worried."

She stepped back a little bit and took in worriedly the distant look in his eyes, the pain that he didn't attempt to hide.

"Clint?" She asked quietly.

"It all started right here." He said suddenly as he looked around, letting go of her, eyes tracking something she didn't see.

Izzy furrowed her brow in confusion. "What did?" She asked slowly.

"We grew up here." Clint said still distracted.

Izzy looked around the carnival and it struck her. "You and Barney?"

Clint nodded. "These people were all a bunch of criminals. Didn't find out until much later. Coulson found me not long after I left here." He said.

Despite the almost wistfulness to his tone, the look on his face scared her. It was a look she hadn't seen in a long time, one that was so far removed from the warm smiles he normally had when she saw him.

"Clint, everyone is at the compound." Izzy said. "I came to bring you back with me."

"Why?" Clint asked, surprising her. "Is there a plan to fix this? Can it be fixed?"

Izzy bit her lip. "I don't know." She said honestly. "But Clint, if there is a way, we need you."

Clint shook his head. "There isn't." He said. "Nothing is going to fix this."

"Clint— "

"Go home, Isabel." Clint said using her full first name for the first time in nearly 10 years.

Something, maybe shock, maybe fear, kept her rooted in place as she watched Clint walk away into the darkness that engulfed the empty carnival.

After a moment, Izzy turned to look at the tent behind her. Though everything in her screamed that it was a mistake to do so, Izzy walked towards the opening in the tent. Blinking to adjust her eyes to bright light inside, she looked up and covered her mouth to muffle a scream at the bodies that were strung from the high wire.

…

Izzy landed at the compound and immediately sought Natasha to tell her what had happened. The former spy couldn't control her own shocked and horrified expression as she listened to Izzy.

"What do we do, Nat?" Izzy asked softly.

Natasha shook her head. "Unless we can fix what happened, there isn't anything we can do right now." She said.

Izzy left Natasha to think, she walked the halls, feeling like a ghost as she moved through the empty building.

Stopping at a large window, she stared out at the Quinjet sitting on the landing pad. _You don't see that every day._ Happy's words to Peter echoing in her head, remembering them standing in that very spot as the jet flew off.

As she stood there, the windows began to shake.


	87. Chapter 87

**New chapter! Sorry about the long wait. Honestly, this is so hard for me to write. I'll be honest, there are some continuity things that I need to change and update and adjust, so I am probably going to update the entire story before I update the new chapter after this. I'll try to have that done this weekend cause I can do it while I work graveyard this weekend. I'll make a note at the beginning of the next chapter if I got it updated. I wanted to give you guys a chapter and explain where I am with this. It won't be a long break I promise.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy stepped back from the windows as they shook. "FRIDAY, what is this?" She asked.

"There appears to be an unidentified object breaking through the upper atmosphere." The AI replied.

With the last month that she had it was too much to hope for, but Izzy raced outside to see, armor ready in case but just praying for a miracle. Pepper joined her after a second, gripping her hand tightly. Steve, Rhodey, Natasha, Bruce, and Rocket followed as a bright light appeared like a beacon as a massive ship became clear in the darkness. The closer the ship got the easier it was to make out the shape of a woman as the light bringing the ship in.

Izzy glanced at Steve, looking for confirmation that this was the woman they had seen in Wakanda while tracking the signal from the pager Fury had left, Carol Danvers.

The ramp lowered and Izzy saw Tony and Nebula. The blue alien was helping Tony, who was in pretty bad shape down the ramp. Izzy ran forward without hesitation, Steve right behind her. Tony let go of Nebula as Izzy wrapped her arms around him, supporting his weight, feeing like an 8-year-old kid as Tony returned from Afghanistan. "Daddy." She said whimpered quietly and Tony tightened his arms around her, and he placed a kiss against her hair.

Steve stepped up when Tony stumbled, taking Tony's left arm as Izzy got under his right, both supporting him.

"Couldn't stop him." Tony said looking at Steve.

"Neither could I." Steve said grimly.

Tony's voice broke. "I lost the kid." He said.

Izzy felt her heart stop as she pictured Peter disappearing in the Snap. She felt the tears start to fall.

"Tony, we lost." Steve said voice just as broken.

Tony looked at Izzy. "Is, umm..."

"Oh, my God!" Pepper said running up at that moment.

Steve let go so Pepper could wrap her arms around Tony and Izzy both. Tony sagged slightly in relief as he held both his girls tightly.

"It's okay." Tony said kissing Pepper. With an arm around both of them they all moved inside.

Izzy and Bruce worked together to an IV started and checking Tony's vital signs. He was skinnier than when she had left him on Titan and they also needed to make sure there weren't any lasting problems from the stab through his abdomen. Finally, Tony was sitting in a wheelchair with Izzy perched on the table next to him while they caught Tony up on what's happened.

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." Bruce said. "World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census." As he spoke, images of the lost appeared on the holo-screens. Hank Pym and his daughter, T'Challa, Shuri, Dr. Selvig, and so many more.

"And it looks like he did..." Natasha paused, gathering her thoughts. Tony and Izzy stared at the screen with Peter's face on it. "He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out…fifty percent of all living creatures."

"Where is he now?" Tony asked. "Where?"

"We don't know." Steve said. "He just opened a portal and walked through."

Tony looked over at Thor, who was sitting and brooding against the wall. "What's wrong with him?" He asked

Rocket's ears twitched. "He's pissed. He thinks he failed." Tony looked over at him in surprise. "Which of course he did, but there's a lot of that goin' around, ain't there?" He said.

Tony blinked. "Honestly, at this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." He said.

"Maybe I am." Rocket replied blandly.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now." Steve said. "Deep space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony you fought him."

Tony's head shot up. "Who told you that?" He asked. Izzy frowned as she looked at him. "Didn't fight him. No. He wiped my face with a planet while a Bleecker Street magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight..."

"Okay." Steve said in a placating tone. "Did he give you any clues? Any coordinates, anything?"

"Pfft!" Tony scoffed. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

"Tony I'm gonna need you to focus." Steve said.

"And I needed you." Tony said. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy." Steve frowned as he listened. "Sorry. You know what I need? I need to shave." He stood up suddenly, Izzy standing to brace him up, so he didn't fall over, Rhodey moving to his other side. "And I believe I remember telling—"

"Tony, Tony, Tony..." Rhodey tried to stop him but Tony kept going.

"Why that otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Remember that?" Tony's words started to blur; he wasn't thinking clearly. "Whether it impacted our precious freedoms, or not. That's what we needed."

"Well that didn't work out, did it?" Steve asked defensively.

"I said we'd lose." Tony said. "You said, "We'll do that together, too." Well guess what, Cap? We lost. You weren't there." Izzy stood in front of him, trying to get him to calm down, to at least look at her. "But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers? We're the Avengers? Not the Prevengers?"

"Okay." Rhodey said stepping in. "You made your point. Just sit down, okay?"

Tony resisted. "No, no. Here's my... She's great, by the way." He said pointing at Carol Danvers.

"Tony, sit, sit down!" Rhodey said.

"We need you. You're new blood." Tony said to Carol as he dodged around Rhodey. "Bunch of tired old mills..." He looked at Steve as Izzy stood next to him, holding his arm. "I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options...Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, you liar..." He ripped off the nano housing unit in his chest and smacked it in Steve's hand. "Here, take this. You find him and you put that on. You hide." He collapsed.

"Dad!" Izzy dropped to her knees, slowing him before he cracked his head on the floor.

Carol knelt as well, placing her hands under his head as they eased him to the floor.

"Tony!" Steve knelt down with them.

Tony looked at Izzy, who held on to him worriedly. "I'm fine. I..." His eyes rolled into his head.

They got Tony to the medical wing; Pepper stayed in the room with him while the others stood outside to talk about what to do next.

"Bruce gave him a sedative." Izzy said running her fingers through her hair. "He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day."

"You guys take care of him." Carol said. "And I'll bring a Bezurian elixir when I come back."

"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked.

Carol looked up. "To kill Thanos." She replied simply.

"Hey." Natasha said. "You know we usually work as a team here, and between you and I we're also a little fragile. We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too."

Izzy looked at Carol. "You even know where he is?" She asked.

"I know people who might." Carol said.

"Don't bother." Nebula spoke for the first time since arriving. "I can tell you where Thanos is."

Moving to their war room, Nebula pulled up a hologram of a planet.

"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me." Nebula said. "Then when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him." Izzy furrowed her brow as she listened. "I'd ask, where would we go once his plan was complete? His answer was always the same. To The Garden."

"That's cute." Rhodey said. "Thanos has a retirement plan. So where is he, then?"

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions." Rhodey said. "No one's ever seen anything like it...until two days ago. On this planet. Thanos is there."

"He used the stones again." Natasha said looking at the energy surge.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Bruce said. "We'd be going in short-handed; you know?"

Rhodey shook his head. "Look, he still got the stones, so..."

Carol looked up. "So, let's get him." She said. "We use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?" Bruce asked,

"Yeah." Steve replied. "Just like that."

Natasha looked up. "Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try."

"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce demanded.

"Because before, you didn't have me." Carol replied.

Izzy had to admire her confidence.

"Hey, new girl, everybody in this room is about that superhero life." Rhodey said. "And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe." Carol said. "And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."

Thor stood up suddenly from the table he was at. He stood right in front of Carol and summoned Stormbreaker to his hand right by her head. She didn't flinch. ""I like this one." Thor said looking up. Carol smiled.

Steve looked up in determination. "Let's go get this son of a bitch."


	88. Chapter 88

**New chapter y'all! Sorry it's taking so long. I've been working two jobs and I'm tired...Also I've been trying to update all the other chapters to fix my continuity and grammar. It's just taking a bit. I'm about half way through Iron Man 2 right now, so if you want to read some new content you can go back from the beginning. Otherwise, once I'm completely finished with the update I'll put up a post and let you guys know. All the updated chapters have a (Note: Re-upload) at the top of the page somewhere.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

While the others prepped to fight Thanos, Izzy went back into the medical room where Pepper was sitting by Tony's side. Ignoring the older woman's gaze, Izzy sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at her father, who was still under sedation.

Taking his hand gently in hers, mindful of his IV sites, she squeezed his hand. "I'm going with them." She said softly, taking a tentative glance at Pepper as well, who was watching her with worry in her gaze. "I have to. If there is a chance that we can bring everyone back, we have to—I have to—take it."

"You need to come back too." Pepper said quietly.

Izzy looked at the woman she happily called 'mom' and smiled sadly. She wouldn't waste the air making promises that she knew that she couldn't keep for sure. She just reached over and held Pepper's hand for a moment before turning back to Tony. Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead gently. "I love you 3000." She whispered before standing up and walking out the door.

…

Sitting on a spaceship again was a little surreal. Izzy watched Rocket and Nebula run through their process for starting up the ship and prepping for flight. So far, this was all a little better than her last outing to space.

"Okay." Rocket said looking back. "Who here hasn't been to space?" Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey all raised their hands. "You better not throw up on my ship." Izzy grinned at the snide little raccoon. "Approaching jump in 3…2…1."

Izzy felt the kick of the ship, pressing her back into her seat as they headed towards Thanos' location. The trip felt much shorter than their jump to Titan, soon Izzy was looking at a lush, green planet down below them.

Carol, who could apparently breathe in space, exited the ship. She floated in front of the viewing screen, the halo glow from her powers surrounding her. "I'll head down for recon." She told them before flying off.

Izzy got up and moved closer to the front where Rocket was, she dropped into Carol's vacated chair. On the way to the front, she had passed between Steve and Natasha. Steve was staring at the compass that he still had from 1945 that had Peggy's picture inside it. She smiled faintly to herself as she faced forward.

"This is gonna work Steve." Natasha said quietly.

"I know it will." The super soldier said. "Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."

Izzy looked back at them quietly.

Carol returned a few moments later. "No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind." She said looking a little perturbed. "It's just him."

"Then that's enough." Nebula said quietly.

They had to have a plan, they needed time to observe and pick the perfect moment to strike. They were only going to get one shot at this.

Izzy watched from her vantage point as Thanos moved through a garden, picking some kind of alien spiny fruit looking thing. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him walk. He had a slow, almost arthritic movement, like he was recovering from a bad injury. Enhancing the view of her HUD, she saw new burns on his skin, not just on his left arm. Presumed effects of further using the Stones.

Thanos moved towards the small shack, passing his armor that he had been wearing on Titan, propped up like some damned scarecrow in the field. Once he was inside, Izzy gave the signal for Carol to come in.

Flying in like a bullet, Carol crashed through the roof of the shack and hit Thanos hard. Rolling out of the hit, Carol came back up and got the titan in a headlock, using her foot to keep his hand with the gauntlet down. Bruce came out of the floor in the Hulk Buster armor, grabbing on to the gauntlet as Izzy and Rhodey broke through the roof, Rhodey grabbing onto his other arm and Izzy kicking in his legs, knocking him to his knees before joining Rhodey, holding his right arm.

Thor flew in, wielding Stormbreaker, he cleanly severed Thanos' left arm at the elbow, detaching the gauntlet with it. Thanos cried out in pain, but Izzy could feel it as she held on, he was much weaker than before.

Steve and Natasha walked in, taking in the scene.

Rocket walked over to the gauntlet and turned it over. "Oh, no." He said quietly.

Snapping her head towards the raccoon's direction, her eyes widened as she took in the empty spaces on the gauntlet where the Stones should have been. _No._

Steve looked at the gauntlet grimly. "Where are they?" He asked looking up at Thanos.

When the titan didn't immediately respond, Carol tightened her hold. "Answer the question." She growled.

"The universe required correction." Thanos said quietly. "After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation."

"You murdered trillions!" Bruce yelled backhanding him, knocking Thanos back.

"You should be grateful." Thanos said looking up.

The calm in his voice caused shivers to run down Izzy's spine. That same calm, resigned tone that he had on Titan, the one that haunted every nightmare that she had.

Steve had a look of horror that was slowly taking over his expression. "Where are the stones?" Steve demanded again.

"Gone." Thanos replied. "Reduced to atoms."

A blank, shell shocked look, came over Thor's face as he heard this.

"You used them two days ago." Natasha said.

Thanos pushed himself up into a half sitting position. "I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be." He looked up. "I am inevitable."

Izzy's helmet retracted back, and she stared into the eyes of the monster, looking for any sign of a ruse. She couldn't find any.

"We have to tear this place apart." Rhodey said. "He has to be lying."

"My father is many things." Nebula, who had been standing in silent observation, said quietly. "A liar is not one of them."

Thanos looked up at her. "Thank you, Daughter." Nebula seemed to flinch at those words. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly..."

Without warning, Thor swung Stormbreaker, taking Thanos' head from his body.

Everyone froze in shock for a long moment, including Thor, who seemed surprised at his own actions.

"What..." Rocket said quietly into the stillness. "What did you do?"

Thor blinked, swallowed, before answering. "I went for the head."

…

The flight back to Earth was in silence. No one said a word. All Izzy could hear was the hum of the ships' engines and the blood rushing in her ears.

 _They had failed._

Once they landed, everyone went their separate ways; Izzy went back to the medical wing. She paused outside of the room, gazing through the window to see that Tony was awake. Pepper was lying beside him on the bed, resting against his shoulder and he had one arm wrapped around her. He was playing with the engagement ring that was still on her finger.

Izzy stayed there for a moment, watching the two for a moment. Tony looked a bit calmer, a bit stronger. Probably being hydrated from the IV was helping. Just watching them together, it seemed close to normal despite the fact that they were in the medical wing.

What now? What was the next step now? How were they supposed to come back from this?

Of all the things that had happened to them over the years, of all the things that could have happened, one mad titan had brought the galaxy to its knees and now everyone had to find a way to pick up the pieces.

Pepper looked up suddenly, seeing Izzy standing there. The movement drew Tony's attention and he sat up a little straighter seeing her.

Taking a deep breath, Izzy walked into the room and moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, tucking one leg underneath her as she sat.

Tony and Pepper were looking at her, waiting for an explanation, but as Izzy looked up, Tony saw it immediately. He reached out for her hand and she took it, letting him pull her close as Pepper walked around the bed to wrap her arms around both of them as Izzy cried against Tony's shoulder.

They had failed. They had lost. The others were never coming back.


	89. Chapter 89

**Hey all! Here is a little nugget for you guys. I am so sorry this has taken so long. I had writer's block for a while and have been incredibly swamped with work (my schedule has been changing unpredictably) and with prepping for the next semester of school which starts in a little under a month (gah!). Anyways, for those that read these notes, I am about twenty two chapters into the update (as of this post anyways) and I have added a lot of new pieces and some new content as well that will start filling in gaps that I have left from the first run through. I hope to have all the re-writes done next week but I'm not promising that.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy looked around her at the sea of carnage spread before her. She was standing in what used to be a Bratva stronghold in Russia but was now nothing more than a gallery capturing the violent end of the criminals.

This had been the case for nearly the entirety of the past year as she tried to track Clint's movements since the carnival. She was always too late though, every time she would get a bead on his location, by the time she arrived she was met with more of the same. Natasha was aware of it as was Steve, but the others were catching on that this was Clint's work.

Considering the 'Ronin' as they were calling him, was only targeting criminal organizations, he was fairly low on government concern as the world tried to piece itself back together. But Izzy and the rest couldn't overlook it.

"Anything?" Natasha asked through comms.

Izzy had cut the feed going back to the compound, knowing when she arrived what she would find. The hope in Natasha's voice killed her. "Not yet." She said softly looking at the small video in her heads-up display. "Looks like I missed him."

Natasha sighed quietly. She had been working herself into the ground helping to coordinate rebuilding efforts and maintain the tentative peace that they had going on in the world. "Come on back." Natasha said. "This is the last attempt."

"Nat!" Izzy instantly protested.

"No." Natasha said firmly. "There's enough going on. The world needs to see the red and gold armor now that Tony is benched, and you won't be any good to anyone if you keep going in to see the slaughtered."

Izzy tensed. "We've never shied away from it before." She said.

Natasha just gave her a tired look. "But we should have done a better job keeping you from it." She said.

Seeing the look on Natasha's face, Izzy wasn't willing to fight with her. They were all exhausted and just bone weary from the amount of work they've had to undertake since the snap.

"I think…I think I'll go home for a little while." Izzy said after a moment feeling like her joints had been weighted. "I'll check in in a couple days."

Natasha nodded and they disconnected communication link.

…

Izzy let FRIDAY bring her on autopilot to her destination. Her eyes took in the large lake and surrounding trees as she flew in stealth mode, dampeners on to limit the noise of her approach. Her display focused in on the quiet cabin, heat readings revealing the two occupants were inside moving around despite the lateness of the hour.

She landed on the grass between the cabin and the dock over the lake. She let her armor retract and she just stood there for a long moment letting the cool air brush at face and neck, pushing her hair aside.

Looking at the cabin for a moment, she turned and walked out onto the dock over the water. She sat down on the end letting her feet dangle over the edge above the water and just looked at the moon's reflection on the water.

After maybe ten minutes, or possibly over an hour, she didn't know, Izzy heard the sounds of footsteps on the wooden boards of the dock before a warm jacket was placed on her shoulders.

She looked up as Tony sat down next to her, mirroring her position with feet dangling over the water and looking out at the picturesque reflection in front of them. Izzy turned her gaze back to the water and they sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Silence was not a word that was ever associated with Starks, but there were a lot of new norms that everyone was adjusting to.

"We were waiting for you to come inside." Tony said after a while of sitting.

"Sorry." Izzy said. "I was just enjoying the peacefulness of this for a moment."

Tony nodded. "Where were you this time?" He asked without looking at her.

"Chelyabinsk." She replied.

"And no luck on finding him?" He asked knowing why she went.

Izzy shook her head.

Tony put an arm around her shoulders, and she rested her head against his shoulder, both returning to silence for a moment. Finally, Tony stood up holding a hand out to her, which she took feeling the coolness of the wedding band on his finger press into her skin. She followed him back to the cabin, both kicking their shoes off and hanging up their jackets once inside the front door.

Izzy looked over and smiled warmly as Pepper walked into the foyer from the kitchen. She wrapped Pepper in a gentle hug, mindful of the eight-month pregnant belly. "Hi mom." She said kissing her cheek gently.


	90. Chapter 90

**Hey all, it's been a long time! I'll warn you now, this is not exactly a happy chapter. This will be kind of a three part thing though, I have two other chapters that will tie in to this one so it was necessary for me to write so I didn't have to use a lot of flashbacks. A lot can happen in 5 years! But I haven't abandoned this story, or my other story, Hawklet, if you are reading that one. I've just been so busy with school it isn't even funny.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"She's just amazing!" Izzy gushed as she curled her legs up under her on the sofa. "And she's so smart."

Johnny laughed lightly as he listened to her excited chatter. "She's like three months old, how can you tell how smart she is?" He asked.

"Because she's a Stark." Izzy replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound egotistical." Johnny rolled his eyes teasingly.

Izzy stuck her tongue out at her best friend. "I'm gonna be the best big sister." She said grinning. "I'm gonna give her whatever she wants and teach her everything I know."

"Maybe leave the teaching to Pepper." He said. "She won't end up as neurotic."

Izzy smiled but it wasn't as bright as before. Examining his face, she realized her mistake. "I'm sorry Johnny." She said quietly. "I wasn't thinking…" She glanced at the photos that were on the shelf above the fireplace, focusing in on a photo from their last trip to Courchevel. She and Sue were dogpiled on top of Johnny in the snow as the three laughed, Johnny's arms were stretched out taking the picture.

Johnny followed her gaze, both looking at Sue's sparkling blue eyes and windswept blonde hair in the photo. "Don't apologize." He said. He looked back at her and frowned seeing her brushing tears away quickly. "Hey, come here." He drew her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed out, trying really hard to dry her tears and pull away.

"Zee, stop." Johnny said firmly. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. What happened isn't your fault." She opened her mouth to contradict him, but his hands tightened on her shoulders. "It is not your fault."

Sniffling, Izzy brushed away her tears, pushing back as he reluctantly let her go. "Sorry." She said quietly for her small breakdown.

Johnny frowned as he looked at her, but she refused to meet his gaze. "Zee…"

She sniffed again and then looked up at him, smiling faintly. "I'm okay." She said. "I should probably get going anyways."

He stood with her, walking with her to the door of his apartment. "Maybe you should just stay here tonight…" He suggested carefully.

"No, I'll be fine." She replied zipping up her winter jacket.

"At least let me take you home." He said.

Izzy smiled. "Johnny, I have my suit, I'll be fine." She replied. "I have to stop by SI anyways." She hugged him tightly, his arms wrapping around her back to hug her close.

He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Call me when you get back home okay." He said.

"I won't get back until really late." She said. "How about I call you in the morning?"

His arms didn't budge as she tried to move back. "Call me as soon as you get back home." He said.

Feeling a warmth spread through her chest, she smiled faintly against his shoulder. "I will." She said tightening the hug for a moment before pulling back. "I'll see you later."

…

She really did have to go to SI, but she finished with her work fairly quickly. Her thoughts were jumbled as she sat at her desk, swiveled around to look out the window. It had been eighteen months since the Snap, and the world was in no less chaos than right after the Snap, it was just more carefully concealed. Businesses returned to normal functioning, those left behind filling in the places of those that were gone. Families trying to rebuild, society trying to heal, and yet it was still a gaping wound that had yet to experience any sort of relief.

With a sigh, Izzy went to the side cabinet in the office, pulling out a bottle of whiskey that sat amongst the scotch and other varied alcohol bottles that were used for meetings and brokered deals. Why she grabbed it, she wasn't even sure, but she took a big swig and made a face as the liquid burned its way down her throat.

Grabbing her bag, she put the bottle inside and walked out, locking her office. She said goodnight to the security, careful to keep her distance so they wouldn't smell the alcohol, she was still shy of 21, so the last thing she needed was them telling Tony, or god forbid, Pepper.

Getting into her car, she pulled away from the building but instead of heading in the direction of home or even the compound, she decided to detour to Central Park. Following the now familiar path, her sneakers quietly scuffing on the pathway, she stopped in front of the memorial that had been erected in honor of those that had disappeared from New York in the Snap.

Walking around the giant marble tablets, she would occasionally trace her hand along the surface feeling the groove of the names engraved into the reflective stone. She paused as her fingers traced a name: Susan Storm. She knew if she moved only a few steps either direction she would come across Ben Grimm and Reed Richards as well.

It was weird, she didn't even like Reed all the much, they were always clashing, but that didn't mean she wanted him gone from existence.

She felt worse for Johnny though. He didn't talk about what happened, but she knew that they had been in Bangladesh when it happened.

 _~ Izzy was standing outside the compound with Natasha and Steve as they said farewell, at least for now, to Carol, who was going to scout the damage that the Snap had done to the rest of the galaxy. As Steve and Natasha exchanged final words with Carol, Izzy's eyes trailed up seeing a ball of fire in the sky._

 _Carol noticed her attention and followed her eyes. "Hostile?" She asked._

 _Izzy tracked the movement, her glasses enhancing her view. "No." She said feeling relief spread through her chest as she took a step past Carol, moving to the front. "It's Johnny."_

 _The four watched as the human torch landed, Izzy rushing forward despite him still being engulfed in flames. They receded just as she reached him, flying into his arms as he lifted her off her feet, crushing her to his chest._

 _They stayed that way for a long moment, Izzy sobbing quietly with relief against his shoulder as he held her tightly._

 _"I thought you were gone." She whispered quietly. "I couldn't contact you, or Sue. Where have you been?"_

 _Johnny's arms tightened around her making it a little hard to breathe but that was the least of her concerns. She looked up at him and saw the pained look in his eyes._

 _"Johnny?" She asked quietly. She looked up at the sky for a second, expecting to see Sue's bubble with Ben and Reed coming in. She looked back at Johnny feeling her stomach drop. Without another word she wrapped her arms around him tightly feeling his tears against the side of her neck. ~_

Clint and Natasha had drilled in self-defense to her from a young age, and the first rule was always be aware of your surroundings. Maybe it was the memory, maybe it was the alcohol, but Izzy realized quickly she broke that rule as she heard a scuff against the concrete.

Turning cautiously, she saw a man, who seemed on his way to being drunk, walking up to the monument. He hadn't noticed her yet, so she moved a back a little further under the shadow cast by the monument, curiosity overriding her better judgement to leave.

The man reached up and gently touched his hand against the monument, staring at a name, maybe more than one, that had been engraved in. "Happy birthday sweetie." He said in a broken voice. "You would have been five years old today."

Izzy felt those words twist like a knife. She started to back away, but her phone chimed in her bag, startling both her and the man on the other side of the monument.

"Who's there?" The man demanded, angry at the interruption to his moment.

Izzy silenced her phone, reaching up to pull the hood of her jacket, the fuzzy lining obscuring her face somewhat as the man came around the side. "Just a visitor." She said quietly. "Sorry about the noise."

The man seemed okay to let it go at first, but something made him pause and take a closer look at her. "Hey, I know you." He said.

"I don't think so." She replied and started to walk away hoping that he hadn't gotten a good enough look and would let it drop. Rapid steps behind her dashed those hopes.

"You're Isabel Stark." The man said his anger evident in his voice. His hand shot out and grabbed her arm, yanking her back.

It took everything in her to control the instinct to strike out, knowing that it would only make things worse in the long run if she did. She tensed, prepared to defend herself if he got worse, but turning her eyes to his face, the absolute wrecked look on the man's face froze her.

"I lost everything because of you!" He said angrily. "My wife, my baby girl, my son, all turned to dust because of you! Because you couldn't stop it."

Izzy was couldn't speak, she just stared with wide eyes as this man continued on, his grip on her arm tightening.

"Hey!"

The new voice snapped Izzy out of her daze, and she looked over only to be blinded by a flashlight beaming right into her eyes. The police that patrolled the monuments, whom she had seen on her way in, were walking over cautiously.

"What's going on here?" The second officer asked.

"Nothing." Izzy pulled her arm free, stepping away. "Have a good evening, gentlemen." With that, she walked away from the site, back to her car.

Getting in and locking the doors, her breath came out in frozen puffs and she stared down at her shaking hands.


	91. Chapter 91

**Whoa! It's been a while since I've updated, I am so sorry. School has just been taking over my life and it has been so hard to write much. This has been really hard for me to write to because I'm still very emotional over this whole movie. However, I was able to watch Captain Marvel for the first time last night and I got some motivation to write. I will try to update more next week because it's Thanksgiving Week and there's no school. Anyways, Izzy has not been making good choices lately. I am going to address them more in the next chapter. It will be the last filler chapter before we start into the movie.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy looked at her phone as it buzzed again. It was Pepper calling for the twelfth time, which would most likely be followed by Tony calling for the thirtieth time. She turned her phone off and shoved it into the pocket of her leather jacket. "Another." She called softly to the bar tender.

The barkeep set her fourth glass of scotch down in front of her.

Slowly sipping on it, she listened to the conversations drifting to her ears from the back corner of the bar. Tugging her black cap down lower, she glanced into the glass mosaic in front of her, picking out the faces of some shady looking individuals that were talking in low tones.

Seeing an exchange of money for a small item, Izzy downed the rest of her drink and slipped from her set, sliding $100 to the barkeep. She wove through the small tables moving towards the sign that said 'Restrooms' carefully watching the table in the corner out of her periphery. Timing it right, the guy who had received the smaller item stood and moved towards the back, bumping right into her as she reached the doorway as he did. She gripped onto his arm, pretending to steady herself.

"Watch where you're going!" He snarled.

"Sorry man." Izzy said with a slur, switching into a British accent. She kept her head tilted slightly so the brim of her hate obscured her face. "Chill out."

The guy grumbled something in Russian before pushing past her, Izzy allowing herself to stumble into the wall, acting a bit drunk. She regained her footing and continued through the doorway slipping her glasses on in the process. She moved past the bathrooms, heading towards the kitchen, following at a safe distance.

"Let's see what you got." Izzy whispered under her breath as the nanite bot she planted on the man located the item, a flash drive, in the man's pocket. Her glasses lit up with the data scrolling through. "Oh, black market arms. How fun." Shaking her head slightly. "Yeah, you don't get to walk away with that."

With a blink of her eyes, she watched the data begin to disappear, the bot erasing everything.

Pushing through the swinging doors she walked through the oddly disserted kitchen. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

She was rewarded for the bad feeling as she walked around a corner to receive a face full of some kind of spray. Coughing, she stepped back, blinking in confusion as her mind started to blur.

"You really thought I wouldn't notice Isabel Stark walking into my hotel?"

She turned to look at the man she had been following. He was gripping a large kitchen knife as he stared at her, grabbing her arm, he pressed the knife to her throat, but she was feeling too disorientated to stop him.

"What did you give me?" She said feeling drugged.

"Just a simple hallucinogen." The man said. "Don't worry, you'll feel normal soon enough. I think you'll fetch quite the high price." The guy was saying but Izzy wasn't listening, she heard the doors open again and the rest of the shady guys from the table plus ten came in.

"I'm just gonna warn you, this is a bad idea." Izzy said, words slurred for real this time.

"I don't think you're in a position to do any damage." The man replied as one of his thugs gripped her arms.

Izzy shook her head before her head lolled to the side slightly. "Not me." She replied with dazed smile.

As she said that the lights cut out casting them into an eerie darkness before faint backup lights kicked on revealing a new character. Izzy stared at the dark hooded figure and her heart stopped as realization broke through her foggy brain.

There wasn't enough time to speak as the room descended into chaos. The new figure drew a sword and wasted no time on mercy as he sliced through the men in the room as they tried to swarm him.

Izzy felt something fly past her ear with a _snik!_ sound and the guy holding her dropped, pushing her legs and making her stumble. She caught herself on the counter and pushed off, avoiding a severed arm that landed where she had been. She looked down at the one who had been holding her and there was a shuriken embedded in his eye.

Looking up, she watched the hooded figure standing over the lead crime boss that had sprayed her with the drug, who was currently begging for his life.

"You don't deserve your life." The familiar voice spoke from the man in the hood as he sliced the man's throat.

Izzy immediately felt her stomach roll but with the exception of the scotch, there wasn't anything to come up. She watched the hooded man turn to her and he moved towards her quickly. Maybe it was the hallucinogen or what she had just seen, but just him walking towards her scared her and she stumbled back.

The man didn't pause but grabbed her arm and tugged her out into a service hallway as the faint sound of shouting reached her buzzing ears. She stumbled and she felt a strong-arm wrap around her waist and his other hand gripped her arm, slinging it over his shoulders.

Her surroundings blended together as she started to fade out and she tripped. The firm hold kept her upright.

"Stay awake kid." That voice again. "We're almost there."

 _I'm so tired. Almost where?_ She wanted to ask, but her voice only came out quietly. "Tired…"

She blacked out again for a second, but she found herself being carried as she woke before losing her grip again. When she came to again, she was lying on a bed, the blankets scratching uncomfortably at her skin. She felt a pinch at her skin on her left hand and winced.

"Ouch." She muttered, trying to reach her hand over to remove the offending thing.

A warm hand gripped hers. "No, leave it." The voice said gently.

Izzy followed the hand up to focus on a large tattoo over the man's arm. Focused on that now, she reached her hand up to trace the pattern as the man went back to doing whatever he was doing with her left hand now that she was distracted.

"Ronin." She said quietly before looking up to meet familiar blue-grey eyes before blacking out again.

…

Waking up hurt. Izzy squinted into the darkness, feeling that it was still too bright despite the blackout curtains being drawn and one loan lamp being on in the corner. She raised her hand to her face but felt a tug of something and looked at her hand curiously. There was an IV in her hand that was infusing fluids.

Sitting up she looked at the black weapons bag sitting on the chair in the corner. She looked to the closed bathroom door in the small motel room where she could hear the sink running. Carefully, she removed the IV from her hand, grabbing a piece of gauze to put pressure on the site.

The door to the bathroom opened suddenly, startling her, and Clint walked out, his expression unreadable.

"Clint." She said quietly.

He didn't reply right away and walked over to sit at the small table, as far from her as he could get. "How are you feeling?" He asked after a second, sounding guarded.

"A little drunk." She replied after a second.

"Which you've had a bit of experience with lately." The statement was like a slap to the face. He wasn't wrong but the disappointment hurt. "What were you thinking going in there alone?"

She shrunk away from the acidity of his tone, looking down. "I knew you were here." She said quietly.

"And you figured you'd…what?" Clint demanded sounding angrier than she had ever heard him direct at her. "You'd save them? Stop their fate?"

"It's not our job to pass the judgement." She said quietly. "Clint, I wanted to find you."

Clint's hands clenched tightly for a moment and she found she really couldn't read his expression. "You need to go home." He said. "Go back to Tony, to Pepper, to your sister—"

She looked up at him in surprise at the mention of Morgan.

Clint raised her phone and project a picture of her holding baby Morgan on her lap as they sat together at the piano. He tossed the phone to her and it landed on her legs, she just stared at the item for a moment.

"Clint, you're my family too." She said softly.

"I'm not." He said firmly.

She looked up at him. "You've been there since I was eight years old. You've protected me, you've supported me, you've just been there for me for thirteen years when you haven't had to be." She said. "Yes, you're my family."

" _My family_ is dead." Clint suddenly snarled making her jump. "You were a mission. An assignment, nothing more. Maybe if I hadn't taken that role so seriously this wouldn't have happened."

Izzy felt her throat tighten and she watched him stand, gathering his bag before leveling his steel gaze back on her.

"Go home, Isabel." He said firmly. "This is your last warning."

He was almost to the door when she found her voice again.

"If you really blamed me for the loss of your family—" His hand paused on the door handle. She watched him with watery eyes, but her gaze sure. "Then why did you save me? Why stay?"

Without receiving a reply, Izzy watched him leave the room, leaving her in silence.


	92. Chapter 92

**Okay guys...new chapter. Next one is going to start into the actual movie. No more filler. Let me know what you guys think. I re-wrote this chapter a lot because I just haven't been happy with it. I dunno.**

 **Anyways, I included some easter eggs in here. Some are subtle and some not so much.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

It had been less than two hours since she had seen Clint and Izzy couldn't fathom why she was standing in front of the nondescript building in Brooklyn, staring at the blank brick front and simple glass doors. The inside was darkened but she knew that she was in the right place. Pulling one of the doors, she walked inside following the signs to the right room. As she got closer to the one bright light she could see pouring into the hallway, she began to differentiate voices drifting out.

Moving over to the doorway silently, she leaned against the frame and gazed at the people inside sitting in a circle with coffees in their hands.

"Jonas and I recently decided to foster a kid." A woman was saying. "A sweet little boy named Chance." The woman looked into her cup like it would give her the answers to the universe while the other people in the group patiently waited for her to continue. "Some people say we're trying to fill the void of losing Abby, but that's not it."

Izzy watched as Steve looked up at the woman from his spot across from here. She didn't hear the words that he spoke, though she was sure they were encouraging, her mind faded out for a moment, partially from the aftereffects of the drug and partially just from the emotion that was clogging her brain. She didn't come back to the present until Steve looked up, seeing her there for the first time, their eyes meeting.

…

"Did you call Nat? She's been worried."

Izzy smiled faintly at the question. "Yeah, I checked in." She replied. "I called dad too and told him that I would be heading there in the morning for a few days."

"You turned off your transponder." Steve said after a minute. "Where were you?"

"Belarus." She replied after a second.

Steve frowned and she was sure that he was putting the pieces together on why. "You should have called for backup." He said. "We would have—"

"God, you really can't shut that half of your brain off, can you?" Izzy said in annoyance. Seeing the carefully controlled expression didn't detract from the hurt that she saw in his eyes. His eyes always were a window. With a sigh she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry. Look, I didn't come here for a lecture, okay?"

"Why are you here Isabel?" Steve asked.

Izzy looked up but her eyes focused in the distance, like she was looking at something else. "I don't even know anymore." She said.

The two sat in silence for a long time, the group that had occupied the room long since gone.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked after a minute.

"Sure." Izzy said as unconvinced as she sounded.

Steve frowned, eyes clearly reflecting concern. "Maybe it would be good for you to step away from this for a little while." He offered. "I'm sure that—"

"Why did you go back to calling me Isabel?" She asked suddenly, looking at him.

Steve blinked in surprise but then he glanced away. "It didn't seem right to use a nickname after what happened." He said quietly.

"I hated you." She said after a second. When he met her gaze, she shook her head slightly. "I wanted to hate you, but…I couldn't. I was mad, hurt, but I couldn't hate you. And then after the Snap—"

 _You should have gone for the head._

Steve watched her steadily as she spoke.

Izzy stood up suddenly, feeling like she couldn't breathe, pacing away from Steven who had stood up in alarm at her sudden change. She took a couple deep breaths trying to fight off the panic attack that she knew was coming.

Suddenly, Steve was in front of her, holding her arms and turning her to face him. "Hey, it's okay." He said.

She shook her head as she gripped onto the sleeves of his jacket, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Zee," Steve said the nickname breaking through her panic. "You're safe. I'm right here, nothing is going to happen."

They stayed like that for a long moment while she tried to focus again. She couldn't blame it on the drug, she knew that. The panic attacks had been getting worse lately but between the alcohol she had been consuming and the fact that she avoided people as much as possible, she had been able to avoid a meltdown in front of people until now.

After a second of silence, she felt her chest loosen, she was no longer hyperventilating, and somehow Steve had maneuvered her to sit on one of the folding chairs without her realizing it.

He knelt in front of her, the only position he had been able to take with the death grip she still had on his arms. "What's going on?" Steve asked gently.

Izzy chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I don't know where to start…"

Though he moved slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, Steve wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug. Feeling tears welling up, Izzy wrapped her arms around him tightly and hid her eyes into his shoulder.

"They're all gone." She said, voice muffled. Steve's arms tightened their hold on her. "They died and…"

Steve sighed when she didn't finish. "And you're still here." He said quietly.

She nodded slightly. "I love Dad, and Mom, and Morgan, and you guys more than anything." She said. "But I feel sick every time I feel happy because there are so many that aren't happy. So, I tried to stay away." She sniffed as she pulled back. "I know we tried to stop Thanos, but what did we do wrong?" Her voice cracked. "Why couldn't we stop him?"

Steve's jaw clenched and his eyes reflected back the pain that she felt. "I don't know." He replied honestly, tears in his own eyes. "And I know that you've taken a lot of the public heat for what happened. I'm sorry, I never should have let you go back out right after that."

"It was my choice." She said with a shake of her head. "I lost—"

"Stop." Steve said firmly surprising her. "None of this is your fault."

Izzy frowned, still not quite ready to believe that. "I'm going to be perfectly honest, I got sprayed with a pretty strong hallucinogen and I'm still kind of high." She said.

Steve smiled, both at realizing that she was telling the truth and that she was just diverting the emotional conversation the same way that Tony would have. "Sit here. I'll grab you a cup of coffee." He said.

Once Steve placed the cup in her hands, they went back to sitting in comfortable silence.

Taking one sip, she cringed at the strong concoction but at least it went a long way to clearing her head. Looking around at her surroundings again, she smiled faintly.

"What?" Steve asked seeing it.

"Nothing. This is just nice." She said. She looked at him. "It's something Sam would have done."

Steve smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess it is." He said.

Izzy looked at him for a second. "You okay?" She asked.

He gave her a half smile. "Sure." He echoed her words right back to her.

She nodded before reaching into her pocket. "Before I forget, this is actually why I was here." She said holding out a square card to him.

Taking it, he realized it was a picture. As he turned it over, he froze staring at one of the original photos of him shaking hands with Dr. Erskine right before the procedure to make him into a super soldier.

"I found that in some of Peggy's old things that Sharon sent me." She said. "Call it an olive branch."

"Thank you." Steve said earnestly. He looked up at her. "But you know that you really didn't need an olive branch. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I won't debate that statement but either way," she shrugged. "I thought you might like to have it."

Steve looked down at the photo, expression distant as he became lost in the memories that it brought up.

"What was it like?" Izzy asked after a moment. Steve looked up. "Whenever I asked Peggy about it, she wouldn't really answer my questions. Was it pretty awful?"

Steve smiled. "Well it certainly wasn't comfortable." He replied. "That whole day is more of a blur now, a lot happened once the process was complete."

"A lot happened?" She asked. "And Dr. Erskine?"

"Killed right after." Steve confirmed.

Izzy reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry." She offered.

Steve shook his head. "Can I ask you something?" He asked looking up.

"What's that?" She asked.

"What was Peggy's husband like?" He asked, blue eyes curious.

Of all the questions she expected, that honestly hadn't been one of them. She blinked, pausing for a second before she answered, thinking. "Honestly, I'm not really sure." She replied. "I have vague memories of him, I didn't see him a lot."

"Why's that?" Steve asked furrowing his brow.

She shrugged. "He just wasn't around whenever I was." She said. "Don't get me wrong, I knew he was a loving husband, but I just didn't see him a lot. I can't really even tell you what he looked like." She looked off into the distance and smiled. "I do have one memory though."

Steve tilted his head to the side slightly, listening.

"I had just turned four." She said. "I was so excited because I was going to go stay with Peggy for a month. I had never gotten to do that before. One day, I had just been running, running, running all day and she said it was time for bed, but I wasn't tired." Steve smiled faintly. "So, we sat together on the couch and she sang to me." Izzy shook her head. "I remember thinking, I'm not tired, and then the next minute I remember these strong arms picking me up and carrying me upstairs to the guest room while Peggy followed, still singing."

Steve smiled at the image.

Izzy sighed and tilted her head back slightly, eyes closed. "I miss her."

Steve nodded looking into the distance. "Me too."

…

Izzy landed in front of the cabin, retracting her armor as she looked around, still amazed by the peacefulness of the location. As she walked towards the house, the screen door opened, and a little toddler raced out.

Grinning, Izzy moved forward, bracing as the little girl leapt from the top step and right into her arms. Swinging her up, Izzy tossed Morgan a little into the air and caught her, the toddler giggling and squealing the whole time.

"Oh, my goodness, you're getting so big." Izzy said kissing her cheeks before tickling her sister, eliciting more giggles. "No more growing. I said no."

Morgan's laughs did a lot to lighten the dark feeling that had been pressing on Izzy's soul when she came back here.

A voice broke through their moment. "Morgan, can you go help mommy get breakfast ready?" Tony asked gently.

Morgan nodded eagerly, her dark hair falling into her face. Izzy brushed the lock of hair away and squeezed her tight before setting her little sister down. They waited until the door shut behind Morgan before they faced each other again.

"Hi dad." She said quietly.

"Come on." Tony said easily, motioning for her to follow. "We have to set the table. You hungry?"

Izzy nodded after a second. "Sure." She replied and moved to help him set up for breakfast on the patio.

They worked in silence, Izzy feeling the silence pressing down. Tony knew her well, so the instant shame she felt rise up in her chest was founded as she realized that he knew exactly what she had been doing lately even if it wasn't directly acknowledged at this moment.

The door opened again, and Pepper came out holding a platter of pancakes and a bowl of fruit salad and Morgan followed carrying napkins. Pepper smiled like she didn't feel the tension that was between father and daughter.

"Izzy, you're just in time." Pepper said setting the bowl on the table and pulling the younger woman into a hug.

…

A cool summer breeze came through the trees, making it comfortable to sit out on the porch and watch the sky change colors with the setting sun. Izzy shifted slightly in her chair, careful not to jostle Morgan, who had fallen asleep in her lap.

Izzy carefully held the stemless wineglass in her hand, looking at the red liquid move in the cup as she set it on the table. She had only taken two sips from the glass, most of it sitting untouched for the past hour. It had been a relaxing day at the cabin, but she knew that eventually she was going to have to jump back into the world.

"Wow, she is out."

Izzy looked up and smiled at Pepper as she took a seat across from her. "It's been a busy day." She said smiling down at her sister. "We've saved the world five times and rescued a princess from a dragon and then we had a tea party."

Pepper laughed softly. Her eyes softened as she looked at the two.

"What?" Izzy asked with a confused smile.

"Nothing." Pepper said. "Just happy to have you back here. I know Morgan is enjoying it to the fullest."

Izzy smiled slightly. "I'm sorry that I haven't been here." She said quietly.

Pepper shook her head. "Don't be." She said. "How are you feeling?"

With a half shrug, Izzy looked out at the lake for a minute before looking back as the door opened again and Tony walked out of the house, handing Pepper a glass of wine as he sat down with his own.

"Natasha called me when you didn't check in." Pepper said. "She was worried. We're worried too."

"I'm fine." Izzy replied quietly.

Tony looked up at her and smiled sadly. "You really think I don't see you doing the exact same thing that I did when I lost control?" He asked.

That caused her to pause. Looking into his eyes, what she had originally tricked herself into thinking was disappointment in his eyes was actually more akin to sorrow. He hurt for her.

"Starks are a lot of things Izzy." Tony said carefully, voice softening. "Unfortunately, self-destruction is a flaw that we all share."

Izzy looked away at that. If she really thought about it, she was doing everything he did minus the meaningless hookups, and she had considered that about a week ago.

"How do I not do that?" She asked.

Tony shrugged as he held Pepper's hand, playing with the ring on her finger. "I'll let you know when I figure it out." He replied.

She didn't talk about how she felt the same way she had with Steve, she didn't need to, Tony struggled with it the same way that she did. But she realized it had never mattered. It had been pointless to hide when she already knew that Tony knew. No matter how much she stumbled, he was always there to pick her back up again even if he wasn't 100% put together himself. It hurt them both more for her to run away.

After a second, Tony stood and walked over to her, brushing away the tears she hadn't realized were falling. "It's okay Izzy." He said. He kissed her forehead as Pepper took Izzy's hand in hers.

To anyone on the outside looking in, nothing was really spoken about or resolved, but Izzy and Tony always heard more than what was just projected verbally. A lot had changed, maybe for the better.

* * *

 **Note: Before I forget to add this, a reviewer asked if we were ever going to get into the full story of her kidnapping. The answer is yes, but there are some things I have to work on first so please be patient I will actually add that in I promise!**


	93. Chapter 93

**Late night update to celebrate wrapping up this semester! Hope you guys like it. Note at the end.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

A peel of laughter echoed through the normally still forest as Morgan ran away from Izzy and Johnny as they chased her in a game of tag. While they were holding back, the little girl was actually quite slippery when it came to evading their grasp.

Finally, Izzy sped up and scooped the giggling four-year-old into her arms, peppering her face with kisses and tickling her while Morgan shrieked with laughter.

"Okay." Izzy said dropping down to her knees. "It is time for dinner and then ready for bed."

Morgan pouted. "But I don't wanna!" She said in her little chipmunk voice.

"We gotta." Izzy said as Johnny walked over. "If you don't sleep then it means that tomorrow will never come, and we can't go into the city."

Morgan frowned. "Tomorrow will come anyways." She argued against the false statement.

"But you'll be too tired to enjoy it." Izzy countered. "Come on. Johnny and I are making pizza, you love pizza."

The two adults held their breath to see which way this would go. Finally, Morgan smiled and reached up to Johnny, wanting to be lifted up high. Johnny happily scooped her up, sitting her on his shoulders as they walked back to the cabin.

…

After eating, Johnny cleaned up the massive mess that had been made in the kitchen while Izzy got Morgan bathed and settled into bed. Lying beside the giggly child, Izzy tried to coax her into a calmer state so that she could sleep.

"Okay, it's nighttime." Izzy said. "Time for sleep."

"Story." Morgan demanded.

Izzy sighed internally. "Morgan H. Stark."

"Story." The little girl demanded again, her all too familiar brown eyes mirrored back at her.

"One story." Izzy said holding up one finger.

Morgan grinned and nodded.

Thinking, Izzy smiled. "What if I tell you about a beautiful princess from Wakanda…"

As the story ended, Izzy smiled at seeing her sister peacefully asleep. Carefully easing off the bed, she tucked the blankets loosely around Morgan and placed a gentle kiss on her head before moving to the door.

Walking out into the hallway, she was surprised to see Johnny leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs waiting for her. He smiled gently and held out his hand, taking it, they moved back downstairs together.

…

"Thank you for cleaning up." She said as they got back to the kitchen.

"Considering I was the one who wasn't watching Morgan with the flour it seemed only fair." He said chuckling.

Izzy laughed. There had been a huge mess when she went to clean Morgan up, evident also by the fact that she was basically pulling dough out of Morgan's hair once the water hit the bits of flour she hadn't been able to get out before the bath.

They each got a glass of wine and moved to the living room where they turned on the tv for background noise, sitting on the sofa.

Izzy smiled warmly. "I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help me babysit." She said.

"Anytime." Johnny said. He looked at her seriously. "How are you holding up?"

Shrugging, Izzy smiled. "I'm…getting better." She replied.

It had been seven months since her last 'off the rails' moment, since she had seen Clint for the last time. She had confided in Johnny about two months after that, and she had made her last public appearance as Iron Maiden a month ago. A lot had changed, and she knew that a lot of people were still very worried about her, most of all her parents and her best friend.

"Did you make a decision on the ceremony?" Johnny asked carefully.

The anniversary of the Snap was coming up quickly and one of the guest speaker roles for the ceremony had been offered to her. She hadn't decided if she was going to attend it or not.

"I don't know." Izzy said.

Johnny took her hand where it rested on her thigh. She gripped his hand back.

The peaceful moment was shattered by a small hiccup from the stairs. "Izzy…"

Izzy immediately shot up, unconcerned as she spilled her wine on the coffee table, and went to Morgan, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs rubbing her teary eyes. "What's wrong baby?" She asked scooping her up tightly. "Nightmare?"

Morgan nodded, burying her eyes in Izzy's shoulder.

"Come sit with us." Izzy said carrying her back to the sofa where Jonny had returned with paper towels. "Thank you."

"Uh-oh." Morgan said. "You made a mess."

"We'll just tell mommy that Gerald did it." Izzy said grinning, referencing the alpaca Tony had bought randomly a month ago.

Morgan laughed. It was believable, the alpaca was not well behaved.

Sitting down, Johnny quickly found a musical which Izzy sang along with as she rocked her legs gently, swaying Morgan, who was sitting on her lap watching the movie.

It didn't take long for Morgan to drift back to sleep against Izzy's shoulder. Johnny offered to take her back up to her bed since Izzy was half dozing on the couch as well. Izzy watched as he picked Morgan up, holding her close as he carefully went to the stairs, her heart swelling in her chest as she watched how much love Johnny had for Morgan. When he returned her sat down and Izzy shifted to snuggle against his side.

She tilted her head back against his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her, holding her close. "I'm so happy that you're here." She said softly. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd be fine Zee." Johnny said. "You're strong. Always remember that."

Izzy searched his face, looking for something. He met her gaze, seeming searching for something as well.

Slowly, Izzy leaned up as Johnny leaned down and their lips connected in a soft kiss. Time seemed to stop for a moment before they pulled away.

Izzy squinted her eyes just a little. "Weird?"

Johnny grinned. "No, not weird." He said leaning in to capture her lips again.

The movie long forgotten, Izzy lost herself to this new sensation as she wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her closer, reveling in the unusual warmth that always radiated from him giving her a long-lost sense of safety.

…

"I am just so happy for the two of you." Pepper was saying as she and Izzy stood together in the kitchen making lunch. "I'm glad that you guys gave it another shot."

Izzy looked at the gleaming engagement ring on her finger. It was simple in design, but it was exactly what she wanted, something that only Johnny would have known to look for to give her. It had been just shy of a year since they had agreed to try a relationship again, this time definitely turning out very differently.

"I am too." Izzy said with a smile.

Pepper picked up on the slight reservation in her face. "Do you wish that it would have been him?" She asked carefully. Izzy looked up with a furrowed brow, confused. "Pietro?"

Izzy's eyes widened for a second, but she shook her head. "I thought about it, but I could never say for certain if I would have said yes, if he would have even asked the question." She said. "It always felt like the relationship was…not real. It was fun but it felt like someone else. With Johnny it just feels right."

Pepper smiled knowingly and went back to chopping.

Tony picked that moment to walk in and after a brief debate about how Gerald was eating all the goji berries, Pepper sent him out to get Morgan, who was playing outside.

Izzy followed after a moment, sitting on the steps as she watched Tony interact with her sister, smiling at the memories that flooded her thoughts of how Tony was with her when she was Morgan's age.

As Tony lifted Morgan in his arms, walking back with the five-year-old, Izzy stood, stepping down to meet them as a car pulled up to the cabin. Izzy looked over as Steve and Natasha got out of the front seats, but the pause and bit of accepting nod from Tony went unnoticed as Izzy focused on the third person to get out of the car. Scott Lang was apparently back from the dead.

* * *

 **This has been bouncing around in my brain for a while. I needed to give Izzy something very personal to possibly lose and a dilemma that she was going to have to face that just pertained to her. Let me know what you guys think of the set up.**

 **Also I like the idea of Izzy telling Morgan stories of those that were lost in the Snap (I hate the name the Blip that they gave it in the movies).**


	94. Chapter 94

**New Chapter!**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy sat on the porch railing, listening silently as Scott recounted what happened leading up to this moment, including his time spent in the Quantum Realm and the plan that they were proposing. Though she was glad to see Steve and Natasha, her eyes were focused on Tony, who was pouring a drink for everyone while he listened.

"Now, we know what it sounds like..." Scott said with a nervous laugh.

Steve spoke, cutting off what was sure to be a stuttering ramble. "Tony after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible..."

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition." Tony spoke as he handed out glasses to everyone. "Can we agree on that?"

Izzy nodded easily, though everyone else looked confused. She nervously twisted her ring as she thought about the implications of the statement.

Rolling his eyes slightly, Steve accepted the glass. "Thank you."

"In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony clarified.

"I did." Scott replied.

Izzy shook her head. "No." She said. "You accidentally survived."

"It's a—It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke." Tony added on. "And now you wanna pull a…What do you call it?"

Scott shrugged. "A time heist?"

Izzy snorted quietly.

"Yeah. Time heist." Tony said, expression indicating that he was about to tear this to pieces. "Of course. Why didn't we think of this before? Oh! Because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?"

"The stones are in the past." Steve spoke up, tone serious. "We can go back, and we can get them. We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back."

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony argued back.

"I don't believe we would." Steve said.

Tony sighed. "Gotta say this. Sometimes, I miss that giddy optimism." He said. "However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible, way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott said. "That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events..."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Hold up." She laughed seeing Tony's expression mirroring her own.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." Tony said. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?"

Scott paused. "No." He said a little sheepishly.

"Good. You had me worried there." Tony said. "Cause that'd be horseshit."

"That's not how quantum physics works." Izzy said.

Natasha spoke quietly. "Tony...We have to take a stand." She said and for the first time Izzy saw the weight that was pressing on her.

"We did stand." Tony said turning to her, voice not unkind. "And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line." Scott said. "You got a wife, your daughters. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did." Izzy's hands clinched on her jeans, drawing Steve and Tony's attention. "And now, now, we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that you won't even..."

"That's right, Scott." Tony said bringing his eyes away from Izzy. "I won't."

Morgan suddenly ran out the door, Tony scooping her up. "Mommy told me to come and save you." She said.

"Good job. I'm saved." Tony said as he hugged her close, standing up as Izzy hopped off the railing and walked over stroking a hand down Morgan's hair. Tony looked to the others. "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I missed you guys, it was..." He trailed off for a second hugging Izzy close too. "Oh, and table's set for eight."

"Tony, I get it." Steve said. "And I'm happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance."

"I got my second chance right here, Cap." Tony said. "I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."

Izzy let Tony take Morgan inside, she moved to see Steve and them off. "Despite the circumstances, I am glad to see you guys." She said hugging Natasha tightly. "I'm sorry that—"

"Stop." Natasha said. "You never had anything to apologize for." She took Izzy's hand, looking at the ring with a smile. "Congratulations."

Izzy hugged Steve next, it sinking in how much she really missed them. She missed everyone. As she stepped back, another car pulled up and Johnny stepped out of the driver's side. She saw the immediate concern in his gaze as he came closer.

"It was good seeing you guys again." Izzy said as Johnny put an arm around her shoulders, her arm going around his waist as they turned to go into the house.

…

"A time heist?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Izzy laughed lightly. "Not the greatest of titles."

They were sitting on the dock, enjoying the cool crisp evening air. Izzy was happily warm, wrapped in Johnny's arms as she recounted what happened during the unexpected visit.

Johnny gently played with her finger's as he thought about what she told him. "Do you really think it's impossible?" He asked.

Izzy shrugged. "Not necessarily impossible, but it is dangerous." She said. "Right now, there would be no guarantee that anyone would be able to even get where they're going in one piece."

"Are you okay?" He asked seriously.

"Yeah." She said. "It was nice seeing them again. I miss them…sometimes I feel like I abandoned them with everything when I stepped away."

"You got out for a good reason though." Johnny said squeezing her tightly. "They encouraged you to do it."

"I know." Izzy said. She turned in his arms and pressed her lips to his. "I promise I'm fine. No impending meltdowns."

He pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. She could feel his concern easily through the embrace.

…

Izzy waited until she could no longer see taillights in the dark before she headed back inside, already missing Johnny's warmth as she wrapped her overlarge sweater tighter around her frame. Unfortunately, he had work to get back to. Walking inside, she turned to the kitchen where Tony was finishing up the dishes.

She watched as he accidentally sprayed water up onto the shelves as he finished cleaning the sink. He reached up and picked up the picture of him standing with Peter, holding a plaque commemorating the 'Stark Internship'. Drying it off, Tony stared at the picture with a distant expression.

Walking over, Izzy wrapped her arms around Tony, resting her cheek against his shoulder as they stared at the photo of the bright-eyed youth. Of all the regrets that they had, Peter's fate was by far at the top of the list.

Tony sighed quietly and put the photo back before looking at her. They had work to do.

…

"Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what checks out." Tony instructed FRIDAY as he and Izzy moved around the projection table. They had been working on this for the last couple of hours, so far with no success. "So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted. Please?"

Izzy gave him a curious look, wondering what had inspired that thought. Tony just shrugged.

"Processing..." FRIDAY said.

"Give me that eigenvalue." Tony said. "That, particle factoring, and spectral decomp." Izzy stood up, making a slight adjustment on the hologram and watched the model move around as FRIDAY rendered it with their specifications. "And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..."

"Model rendered." FRIDAY as they both froze.

Seeing the 'Model: Successful' was not what they had been expecting.

Izzy covered her mouth as Tony dropped into his chair in shock. "Shit!" Tony said in disbelief.

"Shit." Both paused and turned to the voice seeing Morgan sitting on the bottom of the stairs, watching them.

Tony's eyes widened and he put a finger to his lips. "What are you doing up, Little Miss?" He said in a whisper.

"Shit." Morgan repeated.

"No. We don't say that." Tony scolded lightly. "Only Mommy says that word. She coined it; it belongs to her."

Morgan smiled. "Why you up?" She asked.

"Cause I got some important shit going on here. What do you think?" Morgan narrowed her eyes at that causing Izzy to laugh. "No, I got something on my mind." Tony looked at the model projection as he trailed off. "I got something on my mind."

"Was it Juice Pops?" Morgan asked hopefully.

Izzy's eyes softened as she looked at her sister. Tony's demeanor changed as well as he smiled. "Sure was." He stood up and took Morgan's hand as the three went to the kitchen. "That's extortion. Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on...my mind."

Izzy glanced back and waved her hand, getting rid of the model.

…

Izzy leaned against the doorframe of Morgan's room as she listened to Tony try and get Morgan back to sleep. Morgan was nursing her juice pop to prolong her awake time.

"You done? Yeah?" Tony took the stick and ate the remaining bit. "Now you are." He put a hand over her face as she giggled. "That face, goes there." He gently pushed back onto the pillows and covered her up with her blanket.

"Tell me a story." Morgan Said.

Izzy chuckled, remembering this dance many times.

"A story." Tony said. "Once upon a time, a little girl went to bed. The end."

Izzy laughed quietly. That wouldn't be the end of it.

"That ain't the whole story." Morgan protested.

"Come on, that's your favorite story." Tony said as Morgan giggled. He smiled and gave her a kiss on the head as he stood up. "I love you tons."

"I love you 3,000." Morgan said.

Tony froze as he heard that. "Wow. 3,000. That's crazy." He said recovering as he moved to the door and Izzy moved into the hallway. "Go to bed. Or I'll sell all your toys. Night-night."

Once in the hallway, he gave her an accusing look. "You taught her that, didn't you?" He said.

Izzy shook her head, holding up her hands. "Not me I swear." She said. She smiled and hugged Tony, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I do love you 3000 though."

They walked downstairs together, finding Pepper sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3,000." Tony said. Pepper smiled. "You were somewhere in the low 6 to 900 range."

Pepper laughed lightly, but there was a warmth in her eyes as she recognized the words.

"What are you reading?" Tony asked.

"Just a book on composting." Pepper said but set it aside as Izzy sat next to her, resting her head against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Izzy.

"What's new with composting?" Tony asked but Izzy saw his mind spinning. Pepper probably did too.

"Just— "

"We figured it out..." Tony blurted out suddenly. "by the way."

Izzy glanced up at Pepper, who looked confused as she glanced between Tony and Izzy. "You know, just so we're talking about the same thing..." Pepper started.

"Time travel." Izzy said quietly.

Pepper froze in surprise. "What? Wow. That's...Amazing, and... terrifying." She said.

"That's right." Tony said. "I got really lucky."

"Yeah. I know." Pepper said quietly as Tony sighed.

Izzy spoke softly, still snuggled against Pepper. "A lot of people didn't."

Tony shook his head. "No, we can't help everybody."

Izzy tilted her head slightly.

"It sorta seems like you can." Pepper said gently.

"Not if I stop." Tony said glancing at Izzy, seeming to say it to her just as much as to himself. "I can put a pin in it right now and stop."

"Tony..." Pepper sighed, looking at Izzy quickly as well. "trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life."

Izzy smiled faintly but turned her eyes to Tony, half wanting him to tell her what the next move was going to be, but seeing the same conflict in his eyes as well.

"I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake..." Tony said quietly. "...go to bed."

Pepper gave him a sympathetic look. "But would you be able to rest?"

The look on Tony's face would never leave Izzy as long as she lived.


	95. Chapter 95

**Another new chapter. Lot's of heart to hearts in this chapter.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy quietly opened the door to the apartment she and Johnny shared. It was quiet except for the normal city noises that drifted up to them and the lights were all out. Originally, she had been planning to stay at the cabin, but after their discovery, she knew that she had to come back and talk with her fiancée.

Walking into the bedroom, she saw Johnny asleep already. She crept into the bathroom and changed into pajama pants and a tank top. Loosely braiding her hair, she brushed her teeth and washed her face. Looking up, she stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, almost unable to recognize herself as her thoughts raced over the impending task.

Finally, she gathered her composure enough to walk out of the bathroom and went to the bed. She crawled under the blankets and lay down quietly, eyes on Johnny who was facing away from her.

The movement coming easily Johnny turned over, his eyes still closed and pulled her close in his arms. She quickly melted into his warmth and scooted closer, stretching her neck so she could place a chaste kiss to his lips.

"I thought you were staying at the cabin for the weekend?" Johnny said quietly, arms pulling her as close as he could. "Not that I'm complaining."

Izzy smiled faintly as she looked at her best friend and hopefully still soon-to-be husband. "I needed to talk to you." She said softly, afraid to disturb the peacefulness of the moment.

Johnny opened his eyes, meeting her gaze seeming in no way surprised by her words. "You figured it out." He said simply, matching her soft tone.

"Well, technically, dad figured out that it's an inverted mobius strip that would—"

"Zee." Johnny interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Izzy paused for a moment. "We have a chance." She said. "A real chance to bring everyone back."

Johnny was silent, his face impassive as he looked back at her.

She stared up at him with wide eyes, her heart racing the longer the silence continued. "Please say something." She said, voice trembling a little.

Johnny hesitated for another minute as he looked at her. "Zee, I've seen you do this before." He said pained. "You chase these things and I've seen it rip you apart."

"This is different." She said. "I told you before, I wouldn't even try it without there being some form of certainty that we could do it safely. Dad and I found that certainty." She could read the reservation on his face even in the dark. "I know how I've been the last five years, longer even, but Johnny…we have a chance to bring everyone back. Sue, Peter, Sam, Laura…everyone. I owe it to them to try."

He continued to watch her for a moment before finally, she saw the resolve in his eyes as he reached up to trace his fingers along her cheek, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Tell me what you need from me." He said quietly.

Izzy felt like her heart could burst as she leaned up to kiss him deeply. "Thank you." She said as they broke for air.

Johnny pressed his forehead against hers, their eyes closed for a long moment. Despite the silence, she knew Johnny well enough to know that there was something that he still wanted to ask. Pulling back, she looked up at him.

"What is it?" She whispered.

Johnny smiled faintly. "Everyone coming back will come first always. It's our job" He said. "I suppose I am just curious…everyone coming back means _everyone_. What does that mean for us?"

Izzy frowned in confusion for a moment before it hit her, and her eyes widened. "It doesn't change anything. I _thought_ , and I emphasize _thought_ , that I was in love back then. I was sixteen, what the hell did I know, and though I would call him my friend I cannot begin to describe how wrong I realized he was for me." She said but watched Johnny's eyes move to look beyond her. She smiled faintly and reached up to place her hand against his cheek so he would meet her gaze. "You know, I grew up watching my dad do the seemingly impossible. Always trying to one up himself but with what would be a deadly obsession in anyone else." She said.

"That sounds familiar." Johnny teased lightly.

Izzy grinned but continued. "Fatherhood grounded him in a sense, but the one thing that I saw early on was what Pepper did. She anchored him back to reality. She protected him from himself more often than I could begin to describe without limiting who he was." She said. "You have always been that for me. When everything was going down with the Accords and I saw you and Sue at the Tower. You took one look at the bruises that I had, and you were in my corner, no questions asked. Whatever I needed." She felt his hand tighten on her hip at the mention of her injuries but still continued. "Even when we fought about you opening a wormhole on Earth or working for Ross, I knew you would be there for me if I asked. From the time we were children to this moment now you have been my anchor, and nothing will ever change that. I need you; I love you with all of my heart. Please don't ever doubt that."

Johnny kissed her fiercely, leaving her breathless.

Izzy giggled after a second, still out of breath. "I'll take that as an 'I'm sorry I doubted you'—" Johnny cut her off with another fiery kiss. As he pulled back, her pulse leapt at the fire in his eyes.

"I love you." He said. "And this is going to work."

"I know it will." She nodded. "And I love you too."

…

Izzy sat in the passenger seat of Tony's Audi as they drove to the Compound. It had been so long, but she had memories of being fifteen again after they defeated Ultron and they assembled the new team. As they got closer, her glasses picked up a figure standing outside of the building. It didn't take long to see it was Steve, and he looked frustrated. She gripped their time GPS device a little tighter.

As they reached the front of the building, Tony overshot Steve and had to put the car in reverse while Izzy tried really hard not to snicker. Tony rolled the window down. "Why the long face?" He asked. "Let me guess. He turned into a baby."

Steve sighed. "Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?" He asked seriously.

"That's the EPR paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang." Tony explained, ignoring the immediate question. "It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody coulda cautioned you against it."

"You did." Steve replied.

"Oh, did I? Thank God, I'm here." Tony said. "Regardless, I fixed it." Izzy cleared her throat. "We fixed it." He amended holding up his wrist. "A fully functioning time-space GPS." They got out of the car and Izzy watched with bated breath over how the next few seconds would turn out. "I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

Steve's eyes softened. "Me, too."

Tony met his gaze. "We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priority is to bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I found? I have to, at all costs." He said honestly. "And, maybe not die trying will be nice."

"Sounds like a deal." Steve said with a faint smile.

Izzy smiled in relief as she moved towards the trunk of the car, Tony and Steve moving to join her. Opening the trunk, Tony pulled out the Shield.

Steve froze, taking half a step back. "Tony, I don't know..." He said.

"Why? He made it for you." Tony said. "Plus, honestly I have to get it out the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

Izzy just decided to omit that it was too late for that.

"Thank you, Tony." Steve said sincerely.

"Will you keep that a little quiet?" Tony said. "Didn't bring one for the whole team. We are getting, the whole team, yeah?"

Steve nodded. "We're working on that right now."


	96. Chapter 96

**Happy New Year and new chapter! I'll have you guys know I only cried four times writing this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

"I really don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." Izzy commented lightly as she looked at Bruce as they finished making tacos in the kitchen.

When Bruce had decided to lock himself in the gamma chamber, she had been in Wakanda. She had immediately raced back but she had been too late, and she had been convinced that it was going to be the last time that she saw the gentle scientist. However, as the days went by and his vitals slowly improved, stabilized, she began to see what he had been talking about.

"It's not that crazy." Bruce said shyly. "I'm still me, just a more complete version."

"And greener." She replied grinning. Her gaze softened. "I didn't say it wasn't a good thing." She grinned again. "Besides, it means we won't have to bring Veronica back any time soon."

FRIDAY interrupted the moment to let them know that they had new arrivals incoming.

Heading out, Izzy stood back, tracking the movement in the sky through her glasses as she watched Rocket's ship approaching along with the War Machine suit and a very familiar fire streak.

Johnny landed and she ran over to him, a brilliant smile on her face. He grinned and caught her, lifting her off her feet as he kissed her.

"Hey, hey!" Rhodey said as he landed, aiming the large shoulder gun at the two. The two looked at him, no longer kissing but she was still in Johnny's arms. "Just because you're engaged does not mean I want to see you kissing my niece okay. Save it."

Izzy chuckled as Johnny grinned. As Rhodey went to walk back into the building and Izzy moved to follow, Johnny wrapped a playful arm around her waist, pulling her back to him as he pressed a kiss to her neck making her laugh before taking her hand and walking in together.

Tony, Izzy, and Johnny immediately dove into designing the actual time machine while Bruce and Rocket went to retrieve Thor from Norway and Natasha went to find Clint.

…

Izzy brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, making a face as it dripped with sweat and stuck to her neck, but she continued on with her work. She had to re-wire a massive amount of the compound in order for this to work and it was proving to be difficult. They had designed this structure perfectly to do its job, but this was something else entirely. She currently working on a utility spot in the main living area. She had all the furniture shoved aside and she had a big floor panel in the center of the room removed.

"Zee come on. You need to take a break."

She looked up as Johnny walked in. "I'm almost done." She said straightening to pop her back before going back to her work. She could just feel the frown that her fiancé was looking at her with, but she was almost finished.

"Glad to know somethings don't ever change."

That voice made Izzy's head snap up. Johnny was looking back, slightly obscuring her vision but as she stood, she looked at Natasha standing at the doorway with Clint standing slightly behind her and to the left.

Natasha and Johnny both looked between the two, unsure of what to do. While Izzy had never told them exactly what happened the last time that she had seen the archer, they could gather it was not good.

However, Izzy's focus was on Clint. As she walked closer, she could see the weariness that pulled his shoulders down and the pain that reflected back in his eyes as he looked at her. He remembered their last encounter as well as she did.

"Hey kid." He said quietly, carefully.

That was all the opening that Izzy needed as she took three long strides forward, Clint straightening up as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Welcome home." She said softly, just for him to hear. She smiled as she felt his arms wrap around her, squeezing tight as he buried his eyes in her shoulder.

Their quiet moment was wasn't meant to last.

"My friends!"

Everyone jumped at the booming voice and turned, Clint and Izzy separating. Each of their jaws dropping to some degree as they stared at Thor, or maybe the person who had eaten Thor. Very, very gone was the lean God of Thunder, replaced with…well…not that.

…

"Drifting left." Tony said causing Izzy to look up from where she was working with Rocket and Johnny. Tony was walking past Thor, who was ambling by in his sweatpants eating chips. "On the side there, Lebowski."

Izzy chuckled. Her favorite Asgardian looked like he had just stepped out of a frat house…or his parents' basement.

"Ratchet, how's it going?" Tony asked as he set down the cables he had been carrying.

"It's Rocket." The raccoon said in annoyance. "Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal."

Tony looked amused as he turned to Izzy. "How are Bruce, Nebula, and Lang coming on the suits?" He asked.

"Should be nearly complete with the modifications I made." Izzy said. "If we get to actually meet Hank Pym when this is over, we need to collaborate. The man was definitely on to something."

After she finished up with her side of the machine, she left Johnny, Tony, and Rocket to finish up while she went to check in with the suit team. Today they were supposed to test if the machine actually works.

As she walked down the hall, she saw Rhodey exiting one of the conference rooms.

"Hey." She said. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Rhodey said with a sigh. "Just checking on things since we're all here, it means no one is out there."

Izzy nodded. After a second she smiled. "You're always so good at managing things like that." She said. "You should have followed through on that Presidential run. You would have at least made VP if you didn't win."

Rhodey laughed quietly. "No, this was the right choice." He said after a second. He put an arm around her shoulders as they walked. "How are you doing?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "I'm really tired of people asking me that." She said. "I promise, I'm doing good."

Rhodey nodded. "You know we all love you." He said. "And don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you doing more than just helping to run SI. You've been glowing since you dove into this project, but we all still worry."

"I know." She sighed. "But I'm past that I promise. No craziness, I'm being responsible, I'm engaged…"

"Yeah, you know that still makes your dad and I cringe okay." Rhodey said.

Izzy laughed and stopped giving him a hug. "Thank you for always looking out for me." She said. "I love you Uncle Rhodey."

Rhodey kissed her cheek and returned the tight hug.

Izzy stepped back after a second and they continued down the hall. "And I am still getting married." She had to throw in as they reached their destination.

They took in the white suit that Scott was wearing as they approached. It was similar in design to the Ant-Man suit, but with a few other modifications from the earlier designs. It would allow them to be more stable and not risk getting their brains completely scrambled on their trip.

"Time travel suit?" Rhodey commented. "Not bad."

Nebula was adjusting a piece on the back of the suit as Bruce went to put the container with the Pym Particle into the belt of the suit.

"Hey, hey, hey." Scott said. "Easy, easy!"

"I'm being very careful." Bruce said.

Scott was sounding more wound up than usual. "No, you're being very Hulky." He snapped taking the canister.

"I'm being careful." Bruce replied in annoyance.

"These are Pym particles, all right?" Scott said. "And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more."

Izzy raised her eyebrows at his little rant.

"Scott, calm down." Rhodey said calmly.

Scott took a breath. "Sorry." He said. "We've got enough for one round trip, each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus, two test runs—shit—" He pressed a button on his belt and shrunk before popping back up. "One test run." Izzy covered her eyes as Rhodey looked down. "All right. I'm not ready for this."

"I'm game."

Izzy turned to the quiet voice and saw Clint leaning against the glass doorframe, his Ronin tattoo sleeve lit up more in the lab lighting for her to focus on the details. "Clint…"

"I'll do it." Clint said resolutely.

It didn't take long to get him into the suit and Nebula and Izzy went through the final adjustments as Bruce ran him through the scenario.

"Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift." Bruce said. "Don't worry about it."

Clint nodded.

"Wait a second, let me ask you something." Rhodey chimed in drawing their attention. "If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know?" He mimed the action of trying a rope around a neck and strangling it.

"First of all, that's horrible." Bruce said.

"It's Thanos." Rhodey replied.

Bruce shook his head. "And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."

"Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them..." Scott said. "Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved."

"Bingo." Clint said.

"Not 'Bingo'." Izzy said.

"That's not how it works." Nebula said at the same time.

Clint shrugged. "Well, that's what I heard."

Izzy looked at him in disbelief.

"What? By who?" Bruce said. "Who told you that?"

Rhodey started counting off. "Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time,"

"Quantum Leap." Scott threw in.

Izzy sighed in annoyance. "We've talked about this."

"A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time, Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel." Rhodey continued not having heard her.

"Die Hard?" Scott said. "No, it's not..."

Ignoring that statement, Rhodey said. "This is known."

"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true." Bruce said. "Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..."

"Exactly." Nebula said.

"So Back to the Future's a bunch of bullshit?" Scott said in disbelief.

Izzy sighed and motioned for Clint to follow her. They got out to the finished platform of their time machine. She directed Clint on where to stand while they made some final adjustments, and everyone gathered to watch.

"All right, Clint." Bruce said. "We're going in 3…2…1…"

Sensing her nerves, Tony gripped her hand as they watched. Izzy held her breath as she watched Clint disappear from sight. It was only seconds before he reappeared again.

Clint dropped to his knees with a pained cry. Izzy ran forward, Natasha right at her side.

"Hey, hey. Look at me." Natasha said. "You okay?"

The two helped Clint to his feet, his eyes a little wide from shock.

"Yeah." Clint said. "It worked." He looked at the two before looking up at the others. "It worked."

…

"Okay, so the 'how' works." Steve said as they gathered in one of the conference rooms. "Now we gotta figure out the 'when,' and the 'where'. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well, I'd substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones'." Tony interjected as he paced around.

"I haven't." Scott said. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of

different places throughout history." Bruce said.

"Our history." Izzy said. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint said from where he stood next to her.

"Correct." Tony said.

Steve shoved his hands in his pockets. "So. Let's start with the Aether." He said. "Thor, Isabel, what do you know?"

Izzy sighed as she sat on the armrest of the sofa next to Johnny. "The most I remember is flying outside of that angry storm in London." She said. "Nothing really helpful."

They all turned to Thor, who hadn't moved for a while.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked.

"No." Rhodey said. "I'm pretty sure he's dead."

Once they were able to rouse the big guy, Thor stood by the holo monitor that showed the reality stone.

"Where to start? Umm…" Thor removed his sunglasses, looking a bit hungover. "The Aether, first, is not a stone. Someone's called it a stone before. It's more of a…an angry sludge, sort of thing. So…Someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that."

Izzy sighed and settled in on the sofa, draping her legs over Johnny's, seeing that this was going to go off the rails fast.

"Here's an interesting story, though. About the Aether." Thor continued. "My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Scary beings—Isabel you know—So Jane... Oh, there she is." He said looked at the monitor with Jane Foster's picture. "That's Jane…She's…an old flame of mine. She…she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time…and then the Aether stuck itself inside her." Steve furrowed his brow and Johnny and Izzy both choked back a chuckle. "And, she became very, very sick. So, I had to take her toAsgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her." Scott was the only one enthralled at the story. "We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother…who's dead, and umm…" Thor started to tear up and Bruce motioned for them to cut it off. "Oh, you know. Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so…These things happen though, you know. Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that…"

"Why don't you come sit down." Tony said walking up.

"I'm not done yet." Thor insisted. "The only thing that is permanent in life, is impermanence."

"Awesome." Tony muttered. He turned to look at everyone. "Eggs? Breakfast?"

Thor sniffed. "No. I'd like a Bloody Mary." He said with a smile.

…

After amassing some information over the Reality Stone, they moved on to the others.

"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag." Rocket said as they all sat around the table eating Chinese food for dinner, the Power Stone projected in the middle.

"Is that a person?" Bruce asked.

"Morag's a planet." Rocket said. "Quill was a person."

Scott looked up. "Like a planet? Like in outer space?" He asked.

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." Rocket said sarcastically. He pat Scott on the head. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

"How did we ever get anything done?" Izzy whispered quietly

…

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." Nebula spoke in her usual hoarse tone as she stood against the wall.

"What is Vormir?" Natasha asked taking notes on a legal pad.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence." Nebula said and everyone looked up at her. "It's where…Thanos murdered my sister."

…

"That Time Stone guy…" Natasha asked into the silence, lying on top of the conference table.

"Doctor Strange." Izzy supplied as she sighed in exhaustion, rubbing her eyes from where she was reclining against Bruce, who was lying on the floor.

"Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?" Natasha asked.

"Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat." Tony replied from his spot on the table. "Nice place in the village, though."

Bruce nodded. "Yeah. Sullivan Street." He said.

"Bleecker." Izzy corrected.

"Wait, he lived in New York?" Natasha said.

"No. He lived in Toronto." Tony said sarcastically.

Natasha ignored that. "Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York." She said.

Everyone paused and Bruce sat up forcing Izzy to sit up as well as he exclaimed. "Shut the front door!"

…

"All right. We have a plan." Steve said as they all gathered together. "Six stones, three teams, one shot."

They gave themselves a day to prepare for the coming mission.

Izzy and Johnny walked outside together.

I don't like that I can't go to watch your back." Johnny said as they walked, his hand gripping hers tighter than normal.

He was going to remain at the compound while she was going to New York with Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Scott.

"I know." She said. "But we don't have enough Pym Particle for you to come and for Scott to be able to shrink when we need him to."

He knew this but it didn't make it any easier. After a second he smiled faintly at her. "When you get back, we're going to have to finally set a date." Johnny said pulling her close.

Izzy smiled up at him, but she felt a sinking feeling in her chest about this mission. She shoved it down though, they were so close, this was going to work. Suddenly, she had a thought. "Why do we have to wait?" She asked thoughtfully.

Johnny gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Why do we have to wait?" She asked. "We can have a big wedding with everyone after this works, but almost everyone is here. We can video chat mom and Morgan. Rhodey can marry us, he married dad and mom."

Johnny smiled. "Are you serious?" He asked.

Izzy smiled brightly.

…

Izzy took a deep breath to steady herself as she smoothed her hands over the simple red dress, the only one that she had at the compound, feeling nervous. Her long raven locks spilled down her back and over her shoulders, creating a slight curtain.

"Did I look that nervous when I said, 'I do'?"

She looked up at Tony. "Probably." She said. "Did you feel this sick?"

"Most definitely." Tony laughed lightly. His eyes softened, filling with unshed tears. "I can't believe I'm about to watch my baby get married."

Izzy felt tears flood her own eyes, threatening to fall. "Dad," She said, voice halting with her own emotion.

Tony pulled her into a crushing hug. "No matter what happens after this, know that I am and always will be, so proud of you." He said.

Izzy sniffed slightly and hugged him back just as fiercely and spoke softly. "I love you 3,000."

A gentle knock on the door caused them to step apart. Natasha poked her head in the door.

"You ready?" Natasha asked taking in the emotional pair.

"Yeah." Izzy said. "Just one second."

Natasha walked forward producing a handkerchief to clear the smudges of mascara under Izzy's eyes. She smiled and hugged her. "You got this." She said.

"Thank you, Nat." Izzy said hugging her tightly.

Natasha held her hands for a second, smiling, pride in her eyes before she turned to go get her seat.

Taking a deep breath, Tony straightened his suit and held out his arm for her. Smiling, feeling butterflies in her stomach, she took his arm and they moved into the main room that had been shifted around to accommodate their need. The sofas had been pushed into uneven rows with a small aisle leading up to where Rhodey stood as the official. She smiled as she saw all the people that she called family look back at her, also seeing Pepper watching from the monitor with Morgan on her lap watching. Izzy's eyes landed on Johnny and for a second everything just seemed to be right.

Tony paused at the end of the aisle and turned to look at her, kissing her cheek before placing her hand in Johnny's and going to take his seat.

Izzy smiled up at Johnny and he grinned back at her.

"I told you red was your color." He quipped, the clear flames dancing in his eyes.

She laughed and shook her head.

If someone asked her later on to remember the ceremony, she wouldn't be able to remember much (thankfully FRIDAY was recording) but she would remember the butterflies in her stomach being replaced with fire when Johnny kissed her, now officially her husband and she would remember the feeling of joy and completeness from having those that meant the most to her there to share the moment.

Now they just had one more job.

…

Dressed in her suit, Izzy stood with Johnny at the platform waiting for the others. They had gotten up earlier than the others to spend as much time as they could together. He held her close, her arms around the back of his neck as they shared a kiss only pulling away from each other when they heard the others approaching. He squeezed her tightly once before stepping off the platform to join Bruce at the control console.

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us." Steve said looking around. "We lost friends…We lost family…We lost a part of ourselves." Izzy reached out and squeezed Clint's hand, he gripped her fingers back for a second. "Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams; you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes." He looked at Tony, who gave half a smile. "Good luck."

They all moved to stand in a circle on the platform slightly separated into their teams.

"He's pretty good at that." Rocket commented.

"Right?" Scott said.

"All right." Tony said. "You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jelly green."

Bruce gave Johnny a few instruction and keys the controls. "Tractors engaged." He said.

Clint looked down at the shrunken ship in his hand.

"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Clint shrugged after a second. "Okay. I'll do my best."

Rocket scoffed. "As promises go, that was pretty lame." He said.

Natasha smiled as she looked over at the others. "See you in a minute."

* * *

 **I may have cried more than four times. Also I'm sorry about the fluffy bit but I will talk more about it once we wrap up Endgame. Please don't throw things *hides***


	97. Chapter 97

**New chapter! I start school again next week so I am going to do my best to have this story done this week. I make no promises, but I am going to try. Wish me luck.**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **Note: So guys I am a dork. If you see the name "Kate" it's Izzy. I think I changed all of them but just in case.**

* * *

Time travel was a trip. Time travelling right into the middle of a war zone was something else entirely.

Izzy took half a second to steady herself as they appeared in an alley next to Stark Tower. She turned quickly to look at Tony, reaching out to grip his hand for a second, reassuring herself that he was okay before they looked around.

Getting her first real look at the Chitauri, Izzy took a half step forward in horrified fascination before Steve spoke, bringing her back to the present.

"All right, we all have our assignments." He said assessing the danger outside before turning back to them. "Two stones uptown, one stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock."

They looked back out the alley as they heard a familiar roar to see The Hulk come down hard on a Chitauri soldier, smashing it with a car before going after more. Steve looked back at Bruce who looked embarrassed. "Feel free to smash if things don't go your way."

"I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." Bruce said before heading off to the Sanctum.

"You sure you don't wanna be an eye in the sky?" Tony asked as Izzy turned to him.

She smiled. "Nice try." She said. "But I think the red and gold will attract a little attention if past you is inside. Besides, I'm really not interested in watching you go into cardiac arrest again."

"Be careful." Tony said quietly.

"You too." Izzy said with a gentle smile.

Steve walked up. "I've got her six Tony." He said.

Tony nodded.

Izzy watched his armor morph into place and watched him take off into the sky with a shrunken down Scott. "Let's do this." She said looking at Steve. "Know what you're gonna say to convince them?"

Steve smiled faintly. "I have an idea."

…

 _"Got to hustle, Cap."_ Tony said into the comm. _"Things look like they're just about wrapped up here."_

 _"Got it."_ Steve said. _"I'm approaching the elevator now."_

Izzy was standing a few floors below listening to the comm chatter and making sure that there weren't going to be any unexplainable encounters. It was also interesting to watch the feeds from a few different perspectives.

 _"If it's all the same to you..."_ Loki said pushing himself up painfully. _"I'll have that drink now."_

 _"All right. Good one."_ Past Tony said. _"No standing around, I'm closing up this door for later. By the way, feel free to clean up."_

 _"Ugh, Mr. Rogers."_ Tony commented. _"I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass."_

 _"No one asked you to look., Tony."_ Steve replied.

Izzy grinned as she watched the scene unfold.

 _"I think you look great, Cap."_ Scott said. _"As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass."_

Shaking her head, Izzy focused on tracking Rumlow and Sitwell. They were walking towards the elevator with the scepter.

"Now would be a good opportunity to try and capture the Stark girl again." Sitwell said. "During the chaos, if she just disappeared, no one would suspect."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She muttered quietly as she followed the conversation.

"No." Rumlow said in annoyance. "Not with Barton there. Ever since she got a little twitchy in DC, he's been on edge around us. He won't let the brat out of his sight."

"You think she remembers?" Sitwell asked.

"Hard to say." Rumlow said. "She remembered Romanov. She got a look at the Asset too."

Sitwell nodded as they entered the elevator. "Better not leave it to chance." He said. "There may be other opportunities."

Izzy let out a breath somehow surprised and not by the conversation. "All right, Cap. I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the 80th floor." She said.

 _"On it."_ Steve said. _"Tony, head to the lobby. Zee, I'll meet you downstairs."_

 _"Alright. I'll see you there."_ Tony replied.

Izzy took a breath. "I'm in position." She said. "Watching your six."

 _"Evidence secure. We're en route to Dr. List."_ Sitwell was saying into his phone. " _No. No hitches at all, Mr._ _Secretary."_ The elevator opened and the occupants stared in surprise at Steve as he walked onto the elevator. _"Captain. I thought you were_ _coordinating search and rescue?"_

 _"Change of plans."_ Steve replied.

Izzy could see the immediate suspicion from Rumlow.

 _"Hey, Cap."_ The Hydra agent said cautiously.

 _"Rumlow."_ Steve said professionally. He saw the subtle hands resting on their weapons from the other agents. _"I just got a call from the Secretary. I'm gonna be running point on the scepter."_

 _"Sir?"_ Sitwell said turning to him as Rumlow turn his head. _"I don't understand."_

 _"We got word there may be an attempt to steal it." Steve said._

Izzy tensed. "You're gonna have lie better Cap." She muttered.

 _"Sorry, Cap."_ Rumlow said. _"I can't give you the scepter."_

 _"I'm gonna have to call the Director."_ Sitwell added, reaching for his phone.

 _Steve was quicker. "That's okay. Trust me."_ As Sitwell gave him a suspicious look, Steve leaned in closer to whisper. _"Hail Hydra."_

Izzy's mouth dropped with a startled laugh as Steve exited the elevator with the scepter. As he rounded the corner to her location, she offered a polite golf clap in congratulations.

"Let's hurry." Izzy said. "Pretty sure they should be calling for a medic right about now."

 _"Oh, we blew it."_

That wasn't what she was expecting when she comm'd in. "Dad?" She strained her ears hearing commotion in the background.

"Tony, what's going on?" Steve asked as the moved towards the open stairs and the glass bridges in the building. "Tell me you found that cube." Suddenly, he stopped, and Izzy bumped into him. "Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

Looked around him, Izzy's eyes widened as she looked at 2012 Steve Rogers. "Uh oh." She whispered.

"I have eyes on Loki." Past Steve said. "14th floor. He has a female with him under control of the scepter."

Izzy frowned. "I resent that." She said. "How do I look mind controlled?"

"I'm not Loki." Steve said redirecting the conversation as he carefully passed the case back to Izzy. "And I don't wanna hurt you."

Past Steve ran forward and Steve raced forward to create distance from Izzy and the case. Landing a well-placed hit to the chest, Past Steve knocked Steve to the ground.

"I can do this all day." Past Steve said.

"Yeah, I know." Steve said in annoyance. "I know."

Izzy stepped back as the two engaged again. At one point Past Steve broke free and raced towards her to grab the case. A yelp escaped her lips just before Steve tackled his past self and they broke through the glass sides of the bridge and fell down.

"Shit." Izzy whispered and her armor closed around her so she could fly down to the lower level.

Past Steve had Steve in a headlock, close to choking him out.

"Bucky... is... alive!" Steve gasped out.

Past Steve was so shocked he let go, Steve coughing, trying to get in air. "What?"

Steve didn't reply as he punched his past self in the face before Izzy pulled out the scepter and placed it against Past Steve's chest knocking him unconscious.

"You okay?" Izzy asked holding out a hand to pull him up.

Steve nodded, still a little winded. The both looked down at the Past Steve, who was still unconscious. Izzy tilted her head to the side, both looking at the same thing.

"That is America's ass." Steve said nodding.

Izzy laughed and they both went to rendezvous with Tony and Scott. Pushing open the door, they re-entered the alley where they were to meet, looking around.

"Cap..." They turned to see Tony and Scott sitting in a car. "Sorry, buddy. We got a problem."

"Huh. Yeah, we do." Scott muttered.

Izzy sighed as she listened to what went down in the lobby. She scanned Tony's head, vitals coming up in her glasses, looking for a concussion after getting hit.

"Well, what are we gonna do now?" Steve asked.

"You know what, give me a break, Steve." Tony said. "I just got hit in the head with a Hulk."

Scott, who had begun pacing spun around in anger. "You said that we had one shot. This, this was our shot. We shot it. It's shot. Six stones or nothing. Six stones or nothing." He shouted.

"You're repeating yourself; you know that?" Tony asked looking up. "You're repeating yourself."

"You're repeating yourself. You're repeating yourself." Scott said back petulantly.

"Dude!" Tony said. "Come on."

Izzy rolled her eyes as she listened.

Scott was still ranting. "You never wanted a time heist; you went on board with the time heist..."

"I dropped the ball." Tony said.

"You ruined the time heist." Scott said.

Tony looked at him. "Is that what I did?"

"Yeah!" Scott snapped back.

"Can I blast him now?" Izzy asked looking at Tony.

Steve sighed. "Are there any other options with the Tesseract?" He asked.

"No, no, no." Scott said. "There's no other options. There's no do-overs. We're not going anywhere else. We have one particle left. Each. That's it, alright? We use that…Bye, bye. You're not going home."

Izzy looked up at Tony as he straightened. She furrowed her brow as he looked at her suddenly concerned.

"Yeah, well if we don't try… then no one else is going home, either." Steve said cutting Scott off.

"I got it." Tony said standing up Izzy gripping his arm gently in case he was unsteady. "There's another way. To retake the Tesseract and acquire new particles. We'll stroll down memory lane." He said. "Military installation, Garden State."

Steve raised an eyebrow as Izzy's brain began rapid firing as she caught on coming up with a plan. "When were they both there?" Steve asked.

"They were there at a…I've a vaguely exact idea." Tony said.

"How vague?" Steve asked.

Izzy grinned. "I can do better than vague." She said.

Scott, who was now paying closer attention, was confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked. "Where are we going?"

"I know for a fact they were there…" Tony said.

"Who's they?" Scott asked. "What are we doing? Guys, what's up? What is it?"

Steve let out a sigh through his nose and looked up for a second before looking back. "Well, it looks like we're improvising." He said.

"Right." Tony said. He looked at Izzy.

She shook her head. "No way am I passing up this opportunity." She said.

"What are we improvising?" Scott asked.

Steve looked at him. "Scott, get this back to the compound." He said. "Suit up."

"What's in New Jersey?" Scott asked.

Izzy stood with Steve and Tony as they synced their time GPS.

"0-4, 0-4…" Tony said. "Uhh, 0-7."

Izzy nodded. "- 0-7."

"Excuse me…" Scott said.

"1-9-7-0." Izzy continued.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

Father and daughter nodded.

"Cap. Captain. Steve, sorry. America. Rogers." Scott bumbled. "Look, if you do this, and this doesn't work, you're not coming back."

Tony scoffed. "Thanks for the pep talk, pissant." He said. Looking at Steve he asked. "You trust me?"

Steve looked at him seriously. "I do."

"Your call." Tony said.

Steve nodded. "Here we go."

Izzy took a deep breath as their white suits closed around them and her stomach dropped as if she were falling.

* * *

 **PS: I covered part of this in my rewrite at the end of the first Avengers section. If you want to go re-read it if you haven't some of it will come into play later as well. Just FYI**


	98. Chapter 98

**As always, please review :)**

* * *

Wearing a 70s dress that was too scratchy to ever be considered comfortable, Izzy looked around with wide eyes as she walked with Tony and Steve through Camp Lehigh. Her short heels clicked sucked and she had hurriedly twisted her too long hair up to avoid attention, which still didn't stop some of the whistles directed at her. However, everything she could complain about faded into the back of her mind. She was finally getting to see what Peggy had always talked about.

"Clearly, you weren't actually born here, right?" Tony asked, referring to the sign on the gate that said, "birthplace of Captain America."

"The idea of me was." Steve said quietly.

"Right." Tony muttered. "Well, imagine you're SHIELD, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization. Where do you hide it?"

Steve stepped forward, staring straight ahead. "In plain sight."

Izzy followed his sight line and stared at the munitions building recalling what Natasha had told her when they had discovered Zola was still alive right before DC. She and Tony activated their glasses to see two men riding down in an elevator.

The three stepped onto the elevator heading downstairs. They were silent, avoiding eye contact with the woman who was riding down with them. Izzy and Tony were trying to subtly block the woman's view of Steve considering his picture would surely be one that the employees saw very day. Finally, they reached their floor. Unfortunately, Steve had one more to go.

"Good luck on your mission, Captain." Tony said.

"Good luck on your project, doctor." Steve replied a little awkwardly.

Izzy followed Tony through the underground maze, following the energy signature from the Tesseract. As Tony cute open the door, she looked around watching for anyone coming.

"Gotcha." Tony said suddenly drawing her attention. She turned to see him pulling the cube from its vault. "Back in the game."

"Arnim, you in there?" Both tensed as they heard a very familiar voice. One Tony had grown up with and Izzy had only heard on recordings. "Arnim?"

They both looked up to see a young Howard Stark coming around the corner.

"Look out?" Tony said under his breath as they turned away.

"Yeah, my bad." Izzy said back.

"Hey!" They both froze as Howard called out to them. "The door's this way, pal."

They let out a collectively held breath and turned around. "Oh, yeah." Tony said.

"I'm looking for Dr. Zola." Howard said. "Have you seen him?"

Izzy pulled on every bit of spy training she had not to react to that name, but she smiled politely as they approached.

"Yeah, no, Dr. Zol... No, I haven't seen a soul." Tony said accidentally bumping into a chair. "Pardon me."

Howard looked at Tony curiously. "Do I know you?" He asked

Tony paused for half a second before he shook his head. "No, sir. I'm, a…visitor from MIT." He said holding up his stolen badge.

"Huh. MIT." Howard said. "Got a name?"

"Howard." Tony said involuntarily.

Izzy cringed internally. She had never seen Tony this flustered though she couldn't blame him. It was just inconvenient currently.

"Well that'll be easy to remember." Howard said.

"Howard…Potts." Tony said reaching out his hand.

Howard nodded. "Well, I'm Howard Stark." He said. "And this is?"

"Piper." Izzy said pulling a name out of thin air, drawing a little inspiration. "Potts, sir."

"Piper Potts." Howard smiled. "Related?"

Tony nodded. "My oldest daughter." He said looking at her with a proud smile that he didn't have to fake. "She's a recent graduate from MIT."

"Really?" Howard said looking at her.

"Yes sir." Izzy said. "Engineering and mathematics. Top of my class."

Howard smiled. "If you guys are still visiting tomorrow, I should introduce you to Director Carter." He said. "She would be thrilled to meet a smart young lady like yourself."

Izzy felt her heart race at the thought of seeing Peggy in this time period even though she knew it was impossible. "Thank you, sir." She replied.

Howard looked at Tony who was staring at him a little in awe. "You look a little green around the gills there, Potts."

Tony shook his head. "I'm fine. Just, long hours." He said.

"Wanna get some air?" Howard asked.

"Yeah." Tony said. "That would be swell."

Howard indicated the way that he came. "That way." He said.

Tony nodded. "Okay." He said starting to walk towards the exit.

"Need your briefcase?" Howard asked. Izzy watched the reassuring smile in Howard's face and saw it put Tony at ease. She followed them out. "You're not one of those beatniks, are ya, Potts?"

Following Howard into the elevator, they spied what he was holding.

"So, flowers and sauerkraut." Tony commented on the weird combination. "You got a big date tonight?"

"My wife's expecting." Howard said looking down at the can of sauerkraut. "And, uh... Too much time in the office." He said holding up the flowers.

"Congratulations." Tony said the irony not lost that he was talking about himself.

"Thanks." Howard said. He held out the items he was carrying. "Hold this, will you?"

Tony took them, passing Izzy the briefcase. "Yeah, sure." He said. "How far along is she?"

Howard shrugged. "I don't know…uh…" He measured out with his hands for a second. "She's at the point where she can't stand the sound of my chewing." Tony and Izzy chuckled. "I guess I'll be eating dinner in the pantry again. You're lucky. A girl would be nice. Less of a chance she'd turn out exactly like me."

Izzy glanced at Tony out of the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction.

"What'd be so awful about that?" Tony asked carefully.

"Let's just say that the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interests." Howard replied.

They reached the top level and exited the building.

"So, where are you at with names?" Tony asked.

"Well, if it's a boy, my wife likes Elmanzo." Howard replied though his tone indicated his distaste for it.

Izzy quickly coughed to disguise her laugh.

Tony cleared his throat. "Might wanna let that one stew. You got time." He said.

"Let me ask you a question." Howard said turning to Tony. "When your kids were born…were you nervous?"

Tony let out a small laugh. "Wildly. Yeah." Tony replied.

"Did you feel qualified?" Howard asked. "Like you had any idea how to successfully operate that thing?"

Tony looked Izzy who smiled back. "I literally pieced it together as I went along." He said. "I thought about what my Dad did, and…"

Izzy glanced over her shoulder and saw Steve waiting a short distance from them. He gave her a thumbs up, he got the particle. She nodded subtly holding up the briefcase to show they had the cube.

"My old man, he never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt." Howard commented.

"I thought my Dad was tough on me." Tony said looking at Howard. "And now, looking back, I just remember the good stuff, you know. He did drop the odd pearl."

"Yeah?" Howard said. "Like what?"

"No amount of money ever bought a second of time." Tony replied.

That comment sat between them for a moment, the weight of that statement known only to two of the three at the moment. "Smart guy." Howard said quietly.

"He did his best." Tony said quietly as well.

A car pulled up behind Howard and a man stood at the driver's door. Izzy focused on the man for half a second, startled to realize it was Edwin Jarvis.

"Let me tell you." Howard said smiling. "That kid's not even here yet and, there's nothing I wouldn't do for him." Izzy smiled softly as she heard this, she knew what good it would do for Tony. "Good to meet you, Potts." Howard shook hands with Tony.

"Yeah, Howard…" Tony said shaking his hand. "Everything's gonna be all right." In an uncharacteristic move from Tony, he hugged Howard. "Thank you for everything…you've done for this country."

It was not a smooth save, but Izzy couldn't bring herself to care. She sniffled slightly and she walked with Tony towards Steve.

It was time to go home.

…

Izzy released the air from her lungs as they arrived back in 2023. They had done it. She looked at Tony, his eyes finding her as well. Something was wrong, her brain just hadn't caught up to what it was yet.

"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked.

Rhodey grinned. "You telling me this actually worked?" He asked.

Izzy's joy was immediately cut short as Clint dropped to his knees. She crossed in two quick steps, dropping in front of him.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked.

That was it. The count was wrong. They were one person shy.

Izzy looked at Clint, watching as his eyes filled with tears. Vision blurring as tears flooded her own gaze, she wrapped her arms around Clint, feeling him simply bow his head to her shoulder, arms limp at his sides.

…

Izzy found Clint standing on the pier not far from the compound. After everyone had separated to get cleaned up and process, Izzy had started looking for him.

"Hey." She said softly as she approached.

Clint turned his head slightly, not looking at her, but acknowledging that she was there.

"Clint." She said quietly. "Please talk to me."

He took in a shaky breath. "What is there to say?" He asked.

Izzy walked up. She tugged gently at his arms that were crossed tightly across his chest until he loosened enough for her to wrap her arms around him. It didn't take long before she felt him hug her back tightly, her head tucked under his chin. "It's not your fault." She said softly. His arms tightened around her even more. "It's not your fault."

After a while, Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor joined them on the pier.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked after a minute.

"Yeah." Steve said. "Us."

Thor turned to him. "What?"

Izzy looked up at the angry tone in his voice.

"Huh?" Tony looked up.

"What are you saying?" Thor demanded.

Tony saw the worked-up state Thor was in and said tiredly. "I just asked him a question…"

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead." Thor growled. "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" Steve bowed his head, a silent tear falling down his cheek. "So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

"We can't get her back. Clint spoke suddenly.

Thor turned to look at him. "What?" He asked.

Clint turned his eyes to Thor. "It can't be undone. It can't." He said.

"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay?" Thor said. "We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

"Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here." Clint said honestly. "But she still isn't here, is she?"

"Now that's my point." Thor said.

Clint's voice broke. "It can't be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." His tone changed to anger as he continued. "Maybe you wanna go talk to him? Okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him." Izzy placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he sagged slightly. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."

Bruce suddenly grabbed one of the stone benches and hurled it across the lake. "She's not coming back." He said turning to the others. "We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve stood up with determination in his expression. "We will."

…

The designs for a gauntlet that would hold the stones and channel their power were not simple. Considering the last one was made by some cosmic blacksmith in a dying star somewhere in space, the fact that they were able to do it was pretty impressive.

Izzy gathered with Bruce, Tony, and Rocket as they set the stones into the gauntlet. Focusing on the stones and trying not to set off a major reaction, there was dead silence in the lab.

However, just as the stones were put into place. "Boom!" Rocket yelled making the other three to jump.

It took everything in Izzy not to backhand the raccoon and Tony came pretty close.

Calling the others into the lab, they all stared at the gauntlet in reflective silence for what this meant.

"All right. The glove's ready." Rocket said. "Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

"I'll do it." Thor said walking forward. "It's okay."

"No, no, no, no." Izzy said holding out her hands. "Stop. Stop."

"Hey, hey…" Tony spoke at the same time as he, Scott, and Steve all moved between Thor and the gauntlet.

Steve spoke firmly, but gently. "Thor, just wait." He said. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

"I'm sorry. What, were you just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" Thor asked.

"We should at least discuss it." Scott said.

Thor sighed in frustration. "Look, us sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me." He said. "It's my duty—"

Izzy shook her head. "It's not that…It's…"

"Stop it!" Thor said firmly before his eyes filled with tears. "Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something great."

"Look…" Tony said. "It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you you're in no condition."

"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked.

"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey replied.

Izzy shot him a glare. _Really?_

Thor pointed a finger at him but returned his attention to Tony. "Lightning."

Tony shook his head.

"Lightning won't help you, pal." Everyone looked at Bruce as he spoke. "It's gotta be me."

Izzy's breath hitched a little. "Bruce."

"You saw what those stones did to Thanos." Bruce said walking forward, looking at the gauntlet and stones. "It almost killed him. None of you could survive."

"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.

"You don't." Bruce said. "But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like…I was made for this."

Everyone spread out as Bruce picked up the gauntlet.

"Good to go, yeah?" Tony asked somberly.

Bruce nodded. "Let's do it."

"You remember everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today." Tony instructed. "Don't change anything from the last five years."

"Got it." Bruce replied.

Izzy activated her suit as Tony did, Rhodey and Scott were in their suits, Steve stood with his shield at the ready. Thor had Rocket stand behind him, and Tony brought up a shield in front of Clint. Izzy brought her shield up in front of Johnny. They had no idea how this was going to turn out, but they had to brace for a massive energy blast.

"FRIDAY, do me a favor and activate 'Barn Door Protocol' will you?" Tony instructed.

"Yes, boss." FRIDAY replied as the doors and windows closed, reinforced steel coming down creating a blast shield that would hopefully be able to contain any explosion from the stones.

Bruce closed his eyes. "Everybody comes home." He said before the gauntlet resized and closed around his hand. The power was immediate as the gauntlet lit up, bands of energy lacing up his arm from the stones searing his arm. Bruce cried out in pain as he dropped to his knee.

"Take it off." Thor said. "Take it off!"

"No, wait." Steve said. "Bruce, are you okay?"

Izzy gasped. "Bruce?"

"Talk to me, Banner." Tony said.

It took a second, but Bruce nodded. "I'm okay. I'm okay." He said.

With obvious effort, Bruce raised his hand and with a cry, snapped his fingers. His eyes rolled back into his head as the gauntlet slipped from his hand and he collapsed backwards.

"Bruce!" Steve said as they all ran up and Clint kicked the gauntlet away

"Don't move him." Izzy said as she and Tony knelt on Bruce's right side.

Tony sprayed the seared skin on Bruce's arm trying to limit the damage.

Bruce grabbed hold of Steve's arm. "Did it work?" He asked.

"All worth a shot." Thor said. "It's over. It's okay."

The doors and windows opened again, sunlight seeping through into the lab. Izzy heard a faint buzzing and looked up seeing Clint walk over to the table where his cell phone had been sitting. She saw tears form in his eyes as he picked up the device, placing it to his ear.

Scott, who had walked further away from the group towards the windows, spoke. "Guys…I think it worked!"

Tony looked up and Izzy followed his gaze to the skylight to see the massive ship in the sky seconds before it fired down on them.

* * *

 **AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!**


	99. Chapter 99

**Note at the end.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

 _Izzy! Izzy!_

Someone was shaking her, calling her name. Why did the voice seem so far away? Why did she hurt so bad?

 _Come on baby wake up!_

Wait a minute…the Snap…the ship firing on them!

Izzy gasped as she came to, sitting up quickly. Feeling hands on her shoulders, she looked up in shock to see Tony kneeling next to her. "Dad?" She gasped out, forcing air into her lungs and coughing on the smoke.

"Come on, we gotta move." Tony said.

He held out a hand and pulled her. She took note of the shield in her hands, quickly looking around to scan for the owner.

"There." She said indicating Steve laying a short distance away. She followed Tony over to the unconscious soldier carefully assessing her own injuries. She most likely had a bruised rib and a concussion as well as smoke inhalation problems, but overall not too bad.

"Come on, buddy. Wake up." Tony said nudging Steve with his foot, startling him awake. "That's my man." Tony knelt down next to him, holding up the shield. "You lose this again, I'm keeping it."

"What happened?" Steve asked looking at Tony, and then Izzy who was standing guard.

"We messed with time." Tony said grimly. "It tends to mess back. You'll see."

The three walked out of the wreckage, finding Thor standing on an edge looking down to the center of the crater created by the attack. Sitting right in the middle was Thanos in his full armor.

"What's he been doing?" Tony asked

"Absolutely nothing." Thor replied.

Steve looked at Tony. "Where are the stones?" He asked.

"Lost somewhere under all this." Tony replied. "All I know is he doesn't have them."

"So, we keep it that way." Steve said.

Thor continued to stare at the Titan down below them. "You know it's a trap, right?" He said.

"Yeah…" Steve said. "I don't much care."

"Good." Thor replied, lightning crackling around him lighting up his eyes. "Just as long as we're all in agreement." The lightning that he called down from the sky snapped in the air and Thor's armor appeared along with Stormbreaker and Mjolnir, which he had brought back from the past. "Let's kill him properly this time."

As the four moved down, approaching carefully, Thanos finally looked up.

The Mad Titan smirked as they approached. "You could not live with your own failure." He said and Izzy felt the chill go down her spine again at the voice that she had not heard in five years. "Where did that bring you? Back to me." He straightened up a little, still seated. "I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me, that's impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."

"Yep." Tony said clearly on edge. "We're all kinds of stubborn."

As he spoke, they spread out, slowly surrounding him.

"I'm thankful." Thanos replied. "Because now, I know what I must do." He stood to his full height, putting on his helmet. "I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then…With the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe." He pulled his twin bladed weapon from the ground.

"Born out of blood." Steve spat, disgusted.

"They'll never know it." Thanos said simply. "Because you won't be alive to tell them."

Thor gave a mighty battle cry and charged forward, Tony, Izzy, and Steve joining him. As one stepped back another took their place, trading out and closing in as they engaged in the fight.

Izzy and Steve took turns trading blows with him, keeping him busy for a second.

"Okay, Thor." Tony called. "Hit me."

The nanites opened up into a receptor, charging as Thor channeled a lightning blast and the energy was redirected into Thanos, who blocked it with his weapon. Thanos moved closer, finally breaking through the energy blast, grabbing Tony as Thor batted Mjolnir at Thanos but hitting Tony instead, knocking him several feet away.

"Boss, wake up." FRIDAY said.

Izzy blasted Thanos in the chest, flying up to land a kick to the head, making him stumble but not enough. He grabbed her as she sent a blast from her chest plate, but the energy combusted back sending her into a pile of rubble.

Thor engaged him, swinging Stormbreaker impressively, but Thanos got the upper hand, trying to drive the blade of the axe into Thor's chest.

Suddenly, Mjolnir connected with Thanos' head, knocking him to the side before flying back. Tracking the path it cut through the air Izzy's eyes widened to see the hammer land in Steve's hand.

"I knew it!" Thor said before Thanos kicked him, knocking him out briefly.

Steve ran forward using his shield and the hammer together. It seemed to be working until Thanos was able to knock the hammer away, bringing his weapon down on the shield. Izzy pushed herself up, flying forward as the shield cracked in half. She blasted Thanos as he knocked Steve back.

"In all my years of conquest…" Thanos said blocking a repulsor blast and connecting a fist against her, knocking her down. "Violence…" He brought his foot down on her. "Slaughter…It was never personal." He picked her up, her suit fighting hard to avoid having him crush her. "But I'll tell you now…what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet…" He brought his weapon against her, hard, sending her flying to land close to Steve. "I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."

Steve stood up as they watched an army of aliens appear beyond Thanos, thousands of creatures ready to rip them to shreds the minute Thanos gave the order.

"Cap, you hear me?" Izzy froze as the voice entered her comms. She looked up at Steve who put a hand to his ear, listening. "Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me? On your left."

Steve turned to his left as an orange rimmed portal appeared, similar to what Strange was able to do. Izzy stood up slowly, her helmet retracting back as she saw T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye walked out taking in the scene before them.

Suddenly Sam flew out of the portal as more started appearing. Izzy stared in shock with the others as Dr. Strange, the remaining Guardians, and Peter appeared. Tracking past them she saw the Twins, Bucky, Wakandan soldiers, sorcerers, Sue, Reed, Ben, and so many others. Her eyes landed on Pepper in her Rescue armor as she landed.

Breaking out of the collapsed building, Ant-Man, in his giant form hand Rhodey, Rocket, and Bruce. Johnny flew through the sky landing at her side, fire burning brightly.

"Is that everyone?" Strange asked looking at Wong.

"What, you wanted more?" Wong asked in disbelief.

Izzy looked at Tony as he stood at her side as they all face the hoard. "Call it Cap." She said looking at Steve.

"Avengers…" Steve called as Mjolnir flew back into his hand. "Assemble."

Thor gave a battle cry which others took up as they all went forward to meet the coming army. Izzy blasted aliens, covering who she could while trying to stay alive. She saw Tony and Pepper fighting side by side, Thor and Steve were trading weapons as they fought back to back.

"No, no. Give me that." Thor said after a moment, referring to Stormbreaker. "You have the little one."

"Zee, heads up!" Izzy dodged an alien as Johnny came in blasting it away with a fireball.

Izzy felt a bit of relief coarse through her at seeing him okay before they went back to work. "Time to heat things up." She called.

One of the things that she had discovered over the years since Johnny got his power was that he could go super nova and he could cause a hell of a lot of damage burning hotter than the sun.

Johnny took off, blasting through large amounts of aliens, leaving a burning hot flame in his wake, nearly creating glass in the earth as he burned through enemies.

Izzy landed next to Tony the two blasting enemies side by side until the big bruiser they fought in New York came in and smacked Tony with his hammer/scythe weapon knocking him into Izzy. Before either could fire, the alien was yanked backwards by something before being stepped on by Scott.

"Hey!" They both looked up in shock at the voice. Peter ran over to them. "Holy cow. You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, 'cause I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right?" Izzy felt tears spring to her eyes and could see them in Tony's eyes as well as Peter prattled on. "He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us!" And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time…What are you doing?" Tony stepped forward and wrapped the kid in a hug. After his initial shock, Peter returned the hug. "This is nice."

Izzy desperately wanted to hug Peter too, just to make sure he was really there, but they had another pressing problem. Clint had reappeared and he had the stones.

"Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?" Clint asked as Izzy flew in to cover him.

Knocking an alien away with the broken shield, Steve turned. "Get those stones as far away as possible!" He called.

"No!" Bruce called. "We need to get them back where they came from."

"No way to get them back." Tony said. "Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel."

"Hold on!" Scott said suddenly as he shrunk back to a normal size. "That wasn't our only time machine."

Despite the roar of noise from the battlefield, Izzy could clearly pick out the obnoxious horn from Scott's van.

Steve got to a higher vantage point. "Anyone see an ugly brown van up there?" He called to the fliers.

"Yes!" Valkyrie called back. "But you're not gonna like where it's parked."

Izzy blasted up into the air to see where she was looking and spotted the van amongst a swarm. _Oh man._

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Tony asked.

"Maybe ten minutes." Scott replied.

"Get it started." Steve said. "We'll get the stones to you."

"We're on it, Cap." Scott and Hope replied together.

Izzy dropped back for a second, ready to fly over Clint when it was time to move. Dr. Strange had made his way closer to them.

"Hey." Tony called. "You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it."

The look on Strange's face wasn't one that she had seen before.

"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen." Strange said.

"You better be right." Tony said.

Izzy winced slightly as a flash of white lit behind her eyes. She shook it off quickly but saw Strange was looking at her, he had noticed. She didn't have time to contemplate it, they had to move.

It didn't take long for Thanos and his army to notice that Clint had the football. Izzy was brought down and the aliens started to converge on Clint before T'Challa jumped in.

"Clint!" T'Challa called. "Give it to me."

The baton was passed but Thanos tried to intercept him. However, Wanda appeared between the two, her Magic crackling around her angrily.

"You took everything from me." She said.

"I don't even know who you are." Thanos said.

In an eerily calm voice, she replied. "You will."

While Wanda engaged the Titan showing the full range of her power, T'Challa tried to continue with the gauntlet but the skinny, grey alien from New York turned its magic on him.

"I got it!" Peter called swinging in. He landed and looked at the aliens heading towards him. "Activate Instant Kill!"

Izzy looked at Wanda, she had Thanos up in the air, trying to tear him apart.

"Rain fire!" Thanos called.

"But Sire, our troops!" One of his commanders protested.

"Just do it!" Thanos snarled back.

Izzy looked up to see the cannons on the ship aiming down. "Incoming!" She cried out.

The sorcerers and Sue all turned their abilities upwards to create a shield over their allies. Izzy had a moment of pride seeing how Sue's abilities had strengthened, seeing the power of her shield.

"Help! Somebody, help!"

Izzy quickly looked for Peter and saw him getting swarmed.

"Hey, Queens." Steve called. "Heads up." He threw Mjolnir and Peter shot out a web to catch it, the force yanking him out of the pile.

As an incoming blast cut the web, Peter started to fall before Pepper caught him. "Hang on. I got you, kid." She said.

Pepper tossed him up and he landed on the back of the Pegasus that Valkyrie was riding.

"Hey! Nice to meet—Oh! My God!" Peter said as they dropped and got knocked aside by another shot from the ship.

Seeing Peter hit the ground, Izzy dove down bringing up the shield from her suit to provide some cover. Just when the shots were getting too close, everything stopped, and the cannons redirected towards the sky.

"What the hell is this?" Quill asked.

"Friday, what are they firing at?" Tony asked.

The AI seemed just as surprised. "Something just entered the upper atmosphere."

Izzy focused in on the incoming ball of energy and let out a whoop of excitement. Captain Marvel had joined the party.

"Danvers, we need an assist here." Steve called.

Carol landed in front of Izzy and Peter. Izzy slowly climbed to her feet starting to feel every hit.

"Hi." Peter said, clutching the gauntlet tightly. "I'm Peter Parker."

"Hey, Peter Parker." Carol said smiling, amused. "Got something for me?"

Peter handed over the gauntlet, looking forward. "I don't know how you're gonna get through all that." He said.

"Don't worry." Wanda said as she landed next to them.

"She's got help." Okoye said.

Izzy looked around and grinned as she saw Pepper, Hope, Valkyrie, Mantis, Shuri, Gamora, Nebula, and Sue were all there as well.

They moved forward to clear a path for Carol as she raced towards the van. Wanda and Valkyrie cleared out two Leviathans in their way. As Thanos tried to intercept, Izzy, Pepper, Shuri, and Wanda all fired as one and knocked Thanos back. They were so close, but Izzy watched in horror as time seemed to slow down as Thanos hurled his weapon towards the van, colliding with it right before Carol could get there. The explosion blew Carol backwards, knocking the gauntlet from her arms.

Tony and Izzy both went for it. Tony tackled Thanos away from the gauntlet as Izzy grabbed a hole of it. Thanos threw Tony aside and grabbed the gauntlet. Izzy blasted him in the face, but he punched her hard, knocking her away. Thor engages him next, Steve joining but they were thrown aside as well.

Thanos almost got the gauntlet on before Carol came down on his leg and tried to wrestle it away from him. He got her off and managed to get the gauntlet on, but Carol grabbed his hand before he could snap his fingers. Seeing that he couldn't overpower her, Thanos pulled the Power Stone from the gauntlet, balling his fist and connecting with Carol, knocking her away.

Before Thanos could snap his fingers, Tony grabbed a hold of the gauntlet before Thanos knocked him back again.

"I am…inevitable." Thanos raised his hand and snapped his fingers but nothing happened.

As he turned the gauntlet over, the stones were missing.

Izzy looked to Tony and her gut wrenched at the sight of the nanites moving the stones into place on Tony's hand. "Dad…" She said softly.

Tony was struggling to speak with the energy coursing through his body. "And I…am…"

"Dad no…" Izzy gasped.

Tony looked up. "…Iron Man."

"NO!" Izzy screamed as he snapped his fingers.

It took half a second before the attacking army began to fade to dust as everyone else had done five years ago. Thanos sat down as he faded to dust.

Izzy saw none of this as she reached Tony's side, Rhodey helping her to sit him up against a pile of debris. "Dad, dad." She said panic gripping her chest. "Dad, look at me."

He did. "Izzy." He said softly.

The fading light in his eyes made her want to scream. "FRIDAY?"

"Life functions critical." The AI replied.

"Dad…" She whispered, tears blurring her vision. "Please…don't leave me…"

Peter ran up, eyes wide. "Mr. Stark?" He knelt down next to her. "Hey…Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. We won." With each sentence his voice became more panicked, broken. "Mr. Stark…We won, Mr. Stark. We won and you did it, sir. You did it." Izzy felt tears streaming down her face, unable to comfort the kid as she continued to stare at her father. "I'm sorry…Tony…"

Gentle hand pulled Peter away, Pepper kneeling down as Rhodey put an arm around the kid.

"Hey." Pepper said softly, getting Tony to look at her.

"Hey, Pep…" Tony said quietly.

Pepper looked at Izzy who could only shake her head in response. Pepper turned back to Tony and smiled softly. "Tony. Look at me." She said kissing his temple. "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."

Izzy pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you 3.000." She whispered before bowing her head, her tears dripping down onto his armor as the light from the reactor in his chest faded completely.

…

 _Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know? That epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And, for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in. So, I found the time and I recorded a little greeting…In the case of an untimely death. On my part. Not that, death in any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's, it's got me scratching my head about this. But then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to. I love you 3,000._

* * *

 **I straight up balled writing this you guys. This sucked, I am so sad.**

 **Okay, really quick, there is going to be one more chapter. I am ending this on an even 100 chapters (holy cow!) so it might be a long chapter because I am going to touch on a lot of things. I will also address where, if anywhere, this story is going to go post Endgame. I will tell you that the likelihood that the chapter will be up before Monday is small (I know I'm sorry but I gotta work the next two days) but I hope you guys like this.**

 **I'm going to go cry in my corner now.**


	100. Chapter 100

**Chapter 100! Note at the end.**

 **As always, please review :)**

* * *

Izzy breathed out a soft sigh as she sat on the pier, looking out over the lake. The light was just barely starting to break, and birds were starting to wake the area with their morning song. It was peaceful.

Pulling the sleeves of her hoodie, actually Johnny's hoodie, around her hands, she tried to not let her thoughts drift to what today would bring.

About ten minutes later, she heard nearly silent footsteps approaching behind her, alerting her to the presence of her favorite archer before a coffee cup was lowered into her line of sight. Looking up, she smiled and took the hot cup into her hands, clasping it tightly to warm her fingers.

"Thank you." She said taking a sip.

Clint dropped down beside her, still careful not to get too close to her. It was awkward to her, the space that had been formed between them, but she understood where Clint came from as well. He was filled with self-hatred and remorse over his actions, but she still didn't judge him for it.

"How did you sleep?" He asked.

She really hadn't. "Fine." She said instead.

Clint gave her an immediate side eye. "Try again." He said.

Izzy sighed. "I slept for about an hour." She said.

"Were you in the workshop?" He asked. She shrugged. "How? FRIDAY was supposed to have shut you out."

"You're forgetting at the end of the day I was one of FRIDAY's creators." Izzy replied. "I know how to get around a command, especially one that I didn't make." At the deep frown that had set in, she continued. "I can't sleep, Clint. If I'm not in the workshop it means I have to be awake all night just thinking."

"It's been three days Zee." Clint said, not unkindly. "Everyone is worried. You're hurting yourself."

Izzy picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. "It's not that I don't want to sleep…" She said quietly.

Clint sighed. "I know." He said. "Look, I know I'm not the one to talk about dealing with problems. Sleep deprivation and fixation is only a slightly better coping strategy than what I did."

"Only slightly?" Izzy asked with a chuckle.

Clint laughed briefly before sobering. "I am serious though Isabel. You need to sleep." He said. "We don't want to lose you too."

Izzy's throat clenched as she fought the unexpected wave of tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "I won't let that happen." She said. "You're right. Three days is a little long to go without a siesta."

Clint nodded, seeming more satisfied. He looked out over the water. "It's peaceful here." He said. "I can see why Tony chose it."

"You when I was searching for you in the beginning." Izzy said. "I would come back here a lot and I would just sit here on the deck. Dad would come out and sit with me most of the time."

"I'm sorry kid." Clint said quietly.

Izzy shook her head. "Don't be." She said. After a second, she looked over at him. "How are you doing?"

Clint looked over at her and smiled sadly, the dark circles under his eyes prominent. "About the same." He replied.

Nodding, she leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder, he rested his cheek against the top of her head and they just stared out at the water in companionable silence, both reflecting on the losses.

"Is Laura bringing the kids from the hotel?" She asked. She felt him nod. "You could have stayed with your family…I don't want to take more time away from them than you already lost."

"You're my family too kid." Clint replied softly.

Feeling a couple tears slip down her cheeks, she gripped his hand tightly, smiling.

After a minute, the silence had to be broken. "Come on, we need to go get ready." Clint stood up and held out a hand to her, pulling her to her feet. He smiled and tugged at the brim of her well worn Nationals cap. "I can't believe that you still have this."

Izzy grinned. "Of course, I do." She replied straightening it. "You know that taco truck is still in DC."

"Seriously?" Clint grinned. "I miss that food."

"We need to go back." She said as they walked to the cabin.

Even though it was brief, it was nice to have a conversation that just felt normal for once.

…

Izzy stood in front of her bathroom mirror brushing her hair. It was long, longer then she every really cared to keep it. Even as a child it stayed between shoulder length and middle of her back. Now it was down to her waist and she really didn't know what to do with it, but the menial task of brushing it was keeping her mind occupied for now and not focused on the black dress that hung on the back of the door behind her.

As she pulled the brush through her raven locks, she thought back to being a little girl with Pepper was standing to the side while she gave instruction to Tony on how to put Izzy's hair into a simple French braid.

A knock on the door brought her back to the present.

"Zee, you okay?" Johnny's voice drifted through the door.

Clearing her throat, she straightened. "Yeah." She said. "I'm almost ready."

Izzy quickly tied her hair back in a loose half ponytail, leaving most of her curls to cascade down her back and got dressed, giving herself a quick once over in the floor length mirror before exiting the room to see her husband sitting patiently on the edge of the bed, dressed in his black suit. He stood up as she approached.

Not knowing what to say, she simply wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the embrace, knowing that she didn't want him to say anything right now.

After a few minutes, the left the room to see Pepper coming up the stairs.

"Izzy, can you go check on Morgan please?" Pepper asked. "I have to go talk with Rhodey."

"Sure." Izzy said. She looked at Johnny. "Can you go check on everything please? I'll be right down."

Johnny kissed her cheek. "Of course." He squeezed her elbow gently and followed Pepper down the stairs.

Izzy went to her little sister's room and knocked on the door. Opening it, she saw Morgan sitting on her trying to buckle her shoes. "Hey Madam Secretary." Izzy said. "Want some help?"

Morgan nodded and held out her shoes. Izzy sat down on the bed and Morgan turned, propping her little feet up on Izzy's lap. Izzy knew that Morgan could buckle her shoes, she had seen the girl do it a hundred times, but she knew the little girl was just stalling.

"You okay?" Izzy asked.

Morgan nodded, but her unusual somberness belied that.

Once the shoes were finished, Izzy slid off the bed and kneeled down, so she was at eye level with her sister. "You know that it's okay to be sad right?" She said.

"Yeah." Morgan said quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Izzy asked.

Morgan looked down for a moment and then looked back up. "I miss daddy." She said, little lower lip wobbling.

Izzy's heart broke for her sister. Coming back to tell Morgan that Tony was dead brought back every memory and feeling that Izzy had from when she was given the news at eight after he went to Afghanistan. The only difference was this time he wasn't coming back. "I know baby." Izzy said hugging her tightly feeling Morgan's arms wrap around her neck. "I miss him too." She pulled back and looked at Morgan. "And that's okay to miss him. But you know what? We're gonna talk about him, we're going to remember all of the good things."

"Tell stories?" Morgan asked.

Izzy smiled. "So many stories." She agreed. "He'll always be with us. I promise."

Morgan gave a small smile. "Okay." She said.

Leaning forward, Izzy kissed Morgan's cheeks before scooping her up into her arms. She turned as Morgan rested her head against Izzy's shoulder to see Pepper leaning against the doorway smiling with tears in her eyes.

Izzy pulled Pepper into a tight hug as the red head wrapped her arms around both her daughters. They were going to be okay.

 **Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart**

Izzy stared at the emblazoned words on the original Arc Reactor as it floated in the middle of the flower arrangement, moving further out into the lake. She was crouched on the dock, her arms around Pepper and Morgan after they had released it together. Though she hadn't been able to completely look up as the descended the steps from the house after hearing Tony's final recording, she could feel the presence of their family standing behind them.

Straightening up, Izzy turned feeling a little numb as she hugged Rhodey tightly.

Everyone spread out, each offering comfort but space as well. There were some farewells that had to be made, not everyone was staying.

She exchanged brief words with Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Hope and Scott before their departure. Pym wasn't a man of many words, but he offered his respect and thanks.

"When things settle down, do you think I could get a moment of your time?" Izzy asked. "There are some important matters to discuss."

Pym nodded and they departed as a young man approached.

Izzy embraced Harley. "Thank you for coming." She said, smiling at the once wide-eyed kid who was now getting ready for college.

"Of course." Harley said. "I'm— "

Izzy smiled gently as he broke off, choked up. "I know." She said. She sniffed slightly and offered a bright smile. "When you graduate you have to promise me that you'll give SI a fair shot at scooping you up, yeah?"

Harley smiled, chuckling slightly. "Where else would I go? Oscorp?" He asked.

Izzy laughed and saw him off. She then turned to Secretary Ross as he approached.

"My condolences Miss. Stark." He said.

"Thank you." Izzy replied. She didn't quite know what to say to this man, she had despised him for so long but now it was just too tiring.

Ross, for his part didn't seem any more comfortable, but he surprised her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Your father was a hero. He will forever have the gratitude of the world." He said.

Izzy nodded. "Thank you." She said.

As she walked back to the house, her eyes sought Morgan, smiling once she saw the little girl sitting with Happy on the porch. She turned her attention to T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye.

Shuri wasted no time in embracing her tightly. The two didn't need to share words, even after five years the two understood one another well enough that all the emotion was there.

Okoye offered her condolences and ushered Shuri off to the waiting car leaving her alone to speak with T'Challa.

"Nakia sends her comfort and prayers." T'Challa said. "She is sorry that she couldn't make it today."

"It's okay." Izzy smiled. "I'm glad you guys are here."

T'Challa placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you or your family should ever need anything, you need only to ask." He said.

Izzy smiled. "I know." She said. "Thank you." She grinned after a second. "Is it against Royal Protocol for me to give you a hug."

T'Challa smiled and the two embraced as friends before he left.

Thor was leaving with the Guardians to head back to Norway, so she embraced him tightly. There weren't a lot of words to be said at the moment, but a promise passed silently that should either need the other, it wasn't a question that they would be there, always a team, always family.

Next farewells were exchanged with Carol, Hill, and Fury. It was brief, but it wasn't uncharacteristic, however, before they left, Izzy stopped Fury.

"I need to ask a favor from you." She said producing a small glasses case, holding it out. "There are instructions inside, but when the time is right…can you give these to Peter?"

Fury looked at the case. "Why don't you want him to get it from you?" He asked.

"Because I don't want him to feel like he has to take them." Izzy said. "He will if I give it to him."

Fury nodded. "Okay." He agreed.

"Thank you." Izzy said.

Speaking of Peter. She saw May talking with Pepper, but she had to look for a moment to find the spider-kid. What she found was something that would melt her heart to the day she died.

Peter was by one of the biggest trees that stood in front of the lake. He had webbed up two swings to hang from a branch and was pushing Morgan and Nate Barton.

Before she could approach them, she heard a soft voice call her name. She didn't need to look, recognizing the accent immediately. Turning she saw the Twins approaching.

Wanda hugged her first. "How are you holding up?" She asked.

Izzy smiled faintly. "I'm okay." She said. Her gaze softened. "How about you?"

When Vision had disappeared, Izzy didn't have to guess to know that Wanda was the destination. Izzy had five years to mourn Vision, for Wanda it was still very fresh.

Wanda shrugged, not really replying. Izzy frowned slightly but she didn't want to push her.

Looking at Pietro, he gave her a halfhearted smirk. "Will your _husband_ be angry if I give you a hug?" He asked, teasing lightly.

Wanda elbowed him but Izzy laughed.

"No." Izzy said opening her arms.

All the history aside, Pietro did give great hugs. Izzy smiled and squeezed him tighter before releasing him. She looked up into his blue eyes. "Are we okay?" She asked.

Pietro smiled genuinely. "Yeah." He replied. He gave her a cheeky grin. "Besides, you're too old for me now anyways."

Despite everything, Izzy busted up laughing and gave him a playful shove. Shaking her head, she was glad that she hadn't lost the two as friends.

"Look Izzy." Morgan called.

Looking over, she saw Morgan swinging high on the web swing, Peter keeping a careful eye on her. "I see." Izzy smiled brightly as she walked over with the Twins.

After a few minutes of playing with the kids, May approached. "I'm sorry, but Peter, we really need to be going." She said.

Peter nodded.

Izzy spoke quickly. "Can I borrow Peter for just one minute before you leave?" She asked. May nodded.

The two walked closer to the water, away from the two youngest kids.

"I haven't had the chance to ask you yet." Izzy asked Peter as he looked at her, brown eyes wide. "How are you doing with all of this?"

"Me?" Peter said in surprise. "I—I'm fine."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. The kid still couldn't lie for crap. Instead of calling him out on it, she just pulled him into a warm hug. His arms quickly went around her, and she heard him sniffle quietly.

There weren't enough words that could express all that she wanted to tell him. This kid who had become like her little brother, meaning so much in the short time that she had gotten to know him, not just to her but to Tony as well. She wanted to take his pain away, but she saw what Tony had. He was meant for great things. He would get through this as well.

"I want you to promise me something okay?" She said as they pulled apart. He nodded instantly. "If you need anything, I want you to call me. I don't care if it's 3am and you just need to talk, or if you are having trouble with a sewer lizard, you call me okay?"

Peter nodded a small smile forming. "Thanks Izzy." He said.

Izzy smiled and wrapped him in another tight hug. "I'm so proud of you and I know he is too" She said releasing him. "I'll see you soon."

She was about to head back to Morgan when something caught her eye. Strange was standing a considerable distance away from the cabin and the people gathered there. He was staring out at the water lost in thought. While normally, this wouldn't be anything unusual, she knew that he wasn't exactly a social person, there had been something that had been nagging at her, and she had a feeling that he was standing away from the group because he knew what she wanted to ask him.

"Isabel." Strange greeted as she approached, not looking away from the water.

"Doctor." She replied.

He turned to face her. With a small motion of his hand, they began to walk further away, following the path around the lake.

Izzy paused for a second before she could begin. "Ever since I touched the time stone, I started having…" She paused. "Not quite nightmares, or even dreams, but I would see images of a battle—of the battle." She looked up to see he didn't seem surprised by this. "Dad dying wasn't the only winning scenario out of the 14 million, was it?"

Strange paused for a long moment as they stopped walking. "For the immediate battle, no." He answered after a long moment.

Izzy felt tears spring to her eyes.

"What do you remember from touching the Time Stone?" He asked seeing the tears, knowing where her thoughts were taking her. "What did you see?"

Izzy shook her head. "I don't remember it." She replied.

"Yes, you do." Strange replied firmly. "What did you see?"

She sniffed, trying to hold back a sob. "A new team." She whispered.

"And was Tony there?" Strange asked.

She shook her head, covering her mouth as a small sob escaped and tears started to fall.

"You want me to tell you that you could have saved him by taking the stones yourself." Strange said. "But the reality is that Tony would never have been able to live with the trade." She looked up at him and his gaze was soft as he looked at her. "Despite the opinions that people have over him, Tony Stark lived every moment of his life with the desire to make the world safer for you and for your sister. Knowing that you died in his place, he wouldn't have been able to live with that. The world, the universe, would have lost you both."

Tears continued to streak down her face. "It's not fair." She cried softly arms wrapped around herself.

Strange shook his head, looking up for a minute before looking back down to her. "Life rarely is." He said. "But there is a purpose."

…

That night, after almost everyone had left, Izzy found herself sitting in the garage/workshop. She had come here with the intention of working on the time travel GPS, but she just sat there, staring into the distance.

Finally, after a while, she picked up the Iron Man helmet that was sitting nearby. She had put this off for far too long.

Facing the helmet towards the wall behind her, she took a deep breath as she turned to face that wall. "Okay FRIDAY…" She said quietly.

The eyes of the mask lit up and projected out in front of her. Soon, she was staring at the projection of her father.

 _"Hey Izzy."_

"Hi daddy." She whispered.

 _"I really hope that I can come back and delete this before you ever have to see it. But somehow I think this isn't going to be like all of the other times."_ Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she kept her gaze focused on the projection. _"I'm under no disillusion that the world is going to be perfect, even after we pull this off. But the one thing that I know is that it will always be protected. I know you aren't a stranger to the criticism of you being allowed to put on the suit and fight, especially from such a young age, and there isn't a day goes by that I don't feel some form of guilt over this. I've watched you fight, and cry, and bleed over a path that I started us on, but the one thing that will never change is how proud I am of you."_ She felt her chest constrict. _"I've watched you fall—and this will happen a lot, you'll fall, and you'll bruise, and sometimes you'll break—but the one thing that you have always done, and I know you'll continue to do, is you'll stand up and you'll take those broken pieces to make something better. I am proud of the woman and the hero that you have become. The one thing I want you to promise me though is that you'll never forget that you don't have to make my mistakes. You have a team, our family, that will stand with you if you ask them, you will never be alone. I love you, tons."_

"I love you 3,000." She sobbed quietly as the projection disappeared.

…

Izzy walked with Steve towards the newly reconstructed Quantum Gate that was set up a short distance from the cabin. "Are you sure you don't want some help?" She asked.

Steve smiled. "I'm sure." He said. "Besides, there's a good enough reason for you not to travel back right now."

She shrugged but she stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm. "Thank you for everything Steve." She said earnestly. She stood up on her toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck in a hug which he returned gently.

 _I'm going to miss you._

"Remember…" Bruce said to Steve as he and Izzy stood at the controls. "You have to return the stones at the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities."

"Don't worry, Bruce." Steve said. "Clip all the branches."

Bruce paused. "You know, I tried." He said. "When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back. I miss them, man."

Steve nodded. "Me, too." He said.

"You know, if you want, I can come with you." Sam offered as Steve went to the platform.

"You're a good man, Sam." Steve said with a smile. "This one's on me, though." Steve approached Bucky next who was standing with his hands in his jacket pockets. "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

Bucky smiled at the obvious inside joke. "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." He said before hugging Steve. "Gonna miss you, Buddy."

"It's gonna be okay, Buck." Steve said.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sam asked.

Bruce shrugged. "For him? As long as he needs, For us, five seconds." He replied. "Ready, Cap?" Steve nodded. "Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet." Steve said.

Izzy smiled sadly. One look at Bucky confirmed it. He knew too.

"Going quantum. Three…two…one…" Bruce said as the time white suit closed around Steve and he disappeared. "And returning in, five, four, three, two, one…"

Izzy had stepped away from the terminal, her eyes focused elsewhere, when Steve didn't return to the designated spot.

"Where is he?" Sam demanded.

"I don't know." Bruce said. "He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here."

"Well, get him back." Sam said.

Their arguing faded to the background as she walked over to stand beside Bucky who was looking towards the lake.

"Sam." Bucky called.

Sam and Bruce stopped arguing to turn and see what had their attention. There was a man sitting on the bench looking out at the lake.

Sam walked over slowly. Izzy and Bucky looked at him.

"Go ahead." Bucky said when Sam looked at him.

Sam looked at Izzy and she nodded too, smiling.

As Sam walked over, Izzy gave Bucky a one-armed hug, keeping one hand in her jacket pocket. Bucky put a brotherly arm around her shoulders as they watched what happened next.

"When did you figure it out?" Bucky asked.

"Probably around the same time you did." Izzy said with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't realize it when I first met him."

She felt happy tears sting her eyes and she smiled brightly as she watched Sam receive the Shield. Keeping her hand in her jacket pocket, she hugged herself a little tighter.

…

Morgan was bouncing around the back seat of the car, crawling over people looking around excitedly as she stared at the ocean passing by the window. Izzy laughed as Johnny finally caught her, keeping her still as she pressed her face against the window.

Pepper was in a meeting at SI headquarters, so Izzy wanted to take this time to show Morgan some of her favorite places.

"How much longer?" Morgan asked.

"Not much longer." Happy said with an affectionate smile as he looked in the rearview mirror.

Morgan looked at Izzy. "Are we going to go swimming in the ocean?" She asked.

Izzy smiled. "Maybe, if we have time." She said. "I want to take you somewhere first."

They pulled up a long driveway that Izzy had not been to in years, though she still ensured that it and the rest of the property was well maintained. They stopped in a flat area that overlooked the ocean in a still spectacular view.

Izzy kneeled next to Morgan, holding her close as the stood near the edge overlooking the water while Happy and Johnny waited back by the car, watching. "This place is really important." She said. "And I wanted to share it with you."

Morgan looked up at her.

"This place has history." Izzy said.

Morgan's eyes lit up. "A story?" She asked.

Izzy smiled. "Yes." She nodded. "You see, way before you were born, there was a beautiful house that stood here. It's where I grew up. But more importantly—" Feeling a flutter, Izzy paused and took a deep breath as she placed a hand against her slightly rounding stomach. She took another deep breath. "More importantly, this is where daddy first started on the path to become a superhero."

* * *

 **Oh my goodness! You guys I cannot believe that we are here! I started this story almost a year and a half ago and this has been the craziest ride. I cannot begin to thank you all for your support and all the love you've given me and this story. I feel like I wrapped everything up nicely but if there is anything you guys have questions about, anything major I missed let me know and I will happily answer if I can. I'm toying with the idea of releasing little side stories because there are some things I alluded to that would make fun little novellas, like the kidnapping story, but I just didn't have the space for in the main story. The other side of it is when I finish revamping all the chapters I may just add them in, let me know what you guys would prefer.**

 **Again, I can't believe that we are here at the end. It has been incredible. I love you 3,000!**


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